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Colin Cowherd: TV Network, Podcast Digital Company ‘Go Hand in Hand’

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Colin Cowherd: TV Network, Podcast Digital Company ‘Go Hand in Hand’

Colin Cowherd founded The Volume in 2021, a digital sports media company that produces and disseminates various podcasts and digital content offerings. Over the last several years, he has built a robust lineup of hosts including Shannon Sharpe, Richard Sherman and Draymond Green, along with his own eponymous podcast venture as well. The 45-employee company was estimated to be worth $100 million, he shared last year, and the conglomerate continues to grow with new offerings and innovations throughout the years.

In addition to his work with The Volume, Cowherd also hosts his afternoon program, The Herd, on FS1 and simulcasting on FOX Sports Radio. Since the show broadcasts from Los Angeles, Cowherd is on the air at 9 a.m. PST and focuses on the program in the mornings. Once the program concludes at 12 p.m. EST, he begins to think about his other venture with The Volume and the responsibilities he has with the company.

“When I drive home, I make a call, and then I can concentrate on it,” Cowherd said in a recent interview with Mollie Cahillane of Sports Business Journal. “But in order for it to work, I didn’t think it was fair to my current employers to be thinking about The Volume while I was working.”

Cowherd explained that there is synergy between his work on FS1 and that of The Volume and that appearing on television and digital platforms work well together, describing the verticals as going “hand in hand.” He does not want to start a television network in the future, citing a lack of capital and desire to do such a thing. In fact, he asserted that he regularly mentions FOX on his podcast and brings up The Volume while on FS1 as well.

“What’s really fun about it is a lot of times what I do is a selfish endeavor,” Cowherd said. “It’s almost like being a pro athlete. People have to sacrifice for you, travel, broadcasting is public. I go out with my wife, and people come up. It’s been a nice transition to be where I can help lubricate other people’s careers. I don’t think I was capable of doing that in my 20s and 30s; I was too selfish. As the company’s grown, I’ve grown.”

NBCUniversal Sees Strong Weekend Viewership at Paris Olympics

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NBCUniversal Sees Strong Weekend Viewership at Paris Olympics

NBCUniversal continues to attain strong multiplatform viewership across its presentation of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, amassing an average of 34 million people watching the prime time coverage over the first five days. During the second weekend of the games, this windfall continued with a total audience delivery of 34.6 million viewers for Saturday’s action across NBC, Peacock and key NBCUniversal platforms, according to custom fast national data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics.

The metric more than doubles the audience for the comparable Saturday of competition during the Tokyo Olympics, which were played in 2021 due to the global pandemic. Moreover, it is the third-best total audience delivery throughout the Paris Olympics, trailing only coverage from last Sunday (41.5 million) and last Tuesday (34.7 million).

NBCUniversal continued its Olympics coverage on Sunday and amassed a total audience delivery of 35.4 million viewers, according to custom fast national data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics. Compared to the Tokyo Olympics, this represents more than double the audience for the comparable Sunday of competition. Highlights on the day included Noah Lyles’ gold medal win in a photo finish, Suni Lee winning a bronze medal on the uneven bars and Bobby Finke setting a world record in the 1500m. Peacock and NBCUniversal digital platforms assembled 4.5 million viewers on the day.

NBCUniversal has garnered a nine-day total audience delivery average of 33.0 million viewers across its combined prime time programming windows in Paris (2-5 p.m. EST) and the United States (8-11 p.m. EST/PST), which is up 80% from the numbers gleaned from Tokyo. Competition on Saturday included Simone Biles winning a gold medal in the vault, Katie Ledecky securing a victory in the 800m freestyle for the fourth consecutive Summer Olympics and Ryan Crouser winning gold in the shot put for the third consecutive Summer Olympics. The broadcast of the Olympic Games on Friday attained an average of 27.4 million viewers, which is up 58% year-over-year, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch.

Earlier on Saturday, afternoon coverage of the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team victory over Puerto Rico averaged 9.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, and an additional 3.5 million viewers watched the 6 p.m. EST encore presentation that aired on USA Network and Peacock. Coverage of the Olympic Games as a whole on Saturday was streamed by 4.4 million viewers on Peacock and NBCUniversal digital platforms. Combined with WWE SummerSlam, Peacock accrued its third-best usage day of all time, finishing behind only the exclusive presentation of the AFC Wild Card Game in January and Olympic Games coverage last Sunday.

Spanning from the opening Saturday of competition to last Thursday, USA Network has been the most-watched sports and entertainment cable network in total day average viewership. The U.S. Men’s Basketball Team victory over South Sudan had a total audience delivery of 4.3 million viewers last Wednesday, leading the way in the aforementioned duration. The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team victory over Germany last Tuesday had a total audience delivery (TAD) of 4.2 million viewers, while the team’s game against Japan on Saturday amassed a TAD of 3.0 million.

Paragon to Provide Screenings of Documentary Examining Role of American Public Media

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Paragon to Provide Screenings of Documentary Examining Role of American Public Media

Paragon is set to host exclusive screenings of a documentary centered on the role of public media in America and its role in democracy.

Join or Die is a documentary examining the questions “What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And what can we do about it?”

The company will provide at-home screenings of public media officials who register for the next three weekends. On Wednesday, August 28th, Paragon will host a panel discussion on the documentary which will feature Producer/Director Rebecca Davis, podcast host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, author Carrie Melissa Jones, and Paragon founder and CEO Mike Henry. The discussion will be moderated by Paragon’s Seth Resler.

“What Americans need from public media today is not what they needed from public media twenty or thirty years ago,” says Resler. “In a world where anybody can create content, there’s an urgent need for connection. Public radio and television stations are in a unique position to build that sense of community in their markets. On this panel, we’re going to explore what that might look like.”

“Public media is facing an existential crisis related to its core mission and financial sustainability. We believe that Community Building is part of the answer,” added Henry. “Public media can and should play a central role in revitalizing local communities, which serves station missions and leads to new revenue solutions.”

There is a $12 fee to view the documentary, with proceeds going to the producers of the film. Public media officials wishing to view the film can do so by registering here.

Mike Seidel Leaves The Weather Channel After 30 Years for FOX Weather

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Mike Seidel Leaves The Weather Channel After 30 Years for FOX Weather

After 30 years at The Weather Channel, Mike Seidel has departed and has joined FOX Weather as a meteorologist and storm specialist.

Seidel is already on the job for FOX Weather, as he is currently stationed in Florida tracking Hurricane Debby.

“I’m looking forward to continuing my passion for storm coverage on FOX Weather, especially with the forecast of a very busy hurricane season,” he shared in a statement.

Mike Seidel joined The Weather Channel in 1992 after working in local television in Salisbury, Maryland and Greenville, South Carolina.

“We are thrilled to add Mike to our outstanding lineup of meteorologists at FOX Weather as we move into the peak of hurricane season. His decades of experience will prove to be invaluable as we continue to grow our best-in-class weather network,” FOX Weather President Sharri Berg stated.

In addition to the announcement that Seidel was joining the platform, FOX Weather also announced the addition of meteorologist Ari Sarsalari to its roster. Like Mike Seidel, Sarsalari joins from The Weather Channel.

Meanwhile, the streaming platform is now available on Pluto TV as of August 1st.

“As we head into the heart of an already unprecedented hurricane season, we are thrilled to bring FOX Weather’s premium live weather news service to Pluto TV users at this critical time,” Berg said. “With this new partnership, FOX Weather is now available on all major FAST platforms with more live programming than any other weather network to keep our viewers informed, prepared and safe.” 

James Steele Takes APD/PM Drive At 105.9 Sunny-FM Daytona Beach-Orlando

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James Steele Takes APD/PM Drive At 105.9 Sunny-FM Daytona Beach-Orlando

James Steele is moving down the hall to Audacy’s Classic Hits WOCL (Sunny 105.9)/Daytona Beach – Orlando as an APD/PM Driver. The move follows the flip of Alternative WQMO to Rhythmic Throwbacks 102 Jamz.

Steele had held down PM drive since joining the station in February 2018. Prior stops include PD of Alternative WROX (96X)/Norfolk and KTFM-HD2/San Antonio. On-air stints include Biloxi, MS, Melbourne, and West Palm Beach, FL.

The position had been open since the March passing of Anothny “Domino” Lini.

KERN Radio Names J.R. Flores New Program Director

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KERN Radio Names J.R. Flores New Program Director

American General Media has promoted J.R. Flores to the role of Program Director for its news/talk station KERN Radio as well as sports talk outlet ESPN Bakersfield.

Flores was previously working as the Assistant Program Director of the news/talk station and will replace Michael Hopper who departed the station last month. He was also serving as the producer of The Ralph Bailey Show — which airs from 3-6 PM — and will continue in that role in addition to his promotion.

“It’s an honor to be entrusted with leading an iconic brand such as ESPN Bakersfield and continuing the rich history that is KERN Radio,” said Flores. “I look forward to providing the community I grew up in with content, news, and information they can trust and rely on.”

“JR is a dynamic talent and has demonstrated superior strategic sensibilities guiding KERN Radio for us,” AGM Regional Director of Operations and Programming Bob Lewis said. “Giving PD stripes to JR is well deserved and adding his skills to ESPN Bakersfield will only make our brands more successful for our listeners and clients.”

“JR provides our talk stations the perfect blend of leadership and knowledge toward important issues and topics that matter to our listening community in Bakersfield and its surrounding communities,” GM William Smith added. “He is well deserving of this promotion.”

Former SiriusXM Sports Executive Steve Cohen Joining VSiN as Executive Vice President, Talent and Programming

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Former SiriusXM Sports Executive Steve Cohen Joining VSiN as Executive Vice President, Talent and Programming

Steve Cohen is back! The former SiriusXM sports executive who helped build and shape the satellite company’s sports audio portfolio is heading to Las Vegas to oversee programming for VSiN. Cohen was on a plane Monday morning to Sin City, and said to be excited about the new opportunity.

Adding Cohen gives Brian Musburger and Bill Adee a strong programming executive to guide their content strategy. How the responsibilities will be divided among Cohen, Adee and Musburger is unclear. One additional bonus, Steve’s son Michael is also joining the company as a producer and graphic designer.

Cohen previously served as the senior vice president of sports programming at SiriusXM where he built and had oversight of the outlet’s sports talk radio stations, including channels in collaboration with professional sports leagues. In his new role as executive vice president, talent and programming, he will work with VSiN leadership to quickly expand sponsorship, distribution and audience while continuing to deliver credible sports betting content.

“With more than 37 years under his belt, Steve is one of the most respected and innovative executives in the media business and was key in VSiN’s original launch on SiriusXM,” Brian Musburger, founder of VSiN, said in a statement. “Having launched more than a dozen sports talk radio stations, including SiriusXM NFL Radio and Mad Dog Sports Radio following a successful 17-year career in terrestrial radio, it’s hard to find a media leader with more experience giving an audience exactly what they’re looking for. He is a beloved manager with a track record of getting the best out of talent and a unique understanding of the importance of unbiased, credible information for sports bettors.”

Cohen’s new role will include identifying talent, bolstering the overall network lineup and creating more content for broader distribution. The network will utilize his decades of experience within the sports media business to support its mission of providing trusted sports news, analysis and insights that bettors can use to inform their decision making.

“Since I first met the team back in 2015, I’ve known that they were building something special,” Cohen said in a statement. “I’m excited to join a group that has always been at the forefront of the sports betting industry and look forward to the opportunity to leverage my experience creating content across every sport and medium to deliver an exceptional product that satisfies the content needs of all sports fans, especially those who wager on sports.”

While Cohen was with SiriusXM, he was responsible for building out sports radio channels such as SiriusXM NFL Radio, SiriusXM NBA Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Additionally, Cohen and his team worked on channels such as SiriusXM College Sports Radio, SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio and SiriusXM Fight Nation. He and his team were also responsible for overseeing all live play-by-play programming available to listeners of the platform, including broadcasts of NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL games. Cohen previously worked at WFAN where he was the executive producer of the New York Jets and New York Giants radio networks.

Cohen founded the Pro Football News and Injury Report in the early 1990s, helping to pioneer the fantasy sports industry. He was recognized for his contributions to the industry with his induction into the Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition to working across audio outlets, some of which also include Westwood One and FOX Sports Radio, Cohen has also written for print and digital outlets such as ESPN.com, the New York Daily News and the New Haven Register.

VSiN was reclaimed by Brian Musburger and Bill Adee in a recent agreement with DraftKings. After the deal was in place, cuts were made internally to position the brand for the future. The cuts were agreed to in advance with DraftKings prior to assuming control.

Among the affected were VSiN programming bosses Jon Goulet and Brian Rogers. Goulet worked primarily on the radio end, Rogers with television. A few other behind the scenes employees were also let go in the reacquisition.

Cohen’s arrival gives VSiN a sports media executive with strong credentials. He also knows the ins and outs of SiriusXM, a place where VSiN previously aired its programming. The Vegas-based sports betting network paid a hefty sum to be on the satellite provider in the past, so whether or not they desire to do so in the future remains to be seen.

Greg Hughes Paired with Rod Arquette for Afternoons at 105.9 KNRS

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Greg Hughes Paired with Rod Arquette for Afternoons at 105.9 KNRS

Former Utah State Rep. Greg Hughes is joining Rod Arquette in afternoons at iHeartMedia-owned Talk Radio 105.9 KNRS in Salt Lake City.

For the past 14 years, Rod Arquette has hosted a solo afternoon show from 4-7 PM. In 2018, he welcomed Greg Hughes to the show as a regular contributor and co-host for every Wednesday edition.

The newly named Rod & Greg Show will continue to be heard in the 4-7 PM timeslot. Hughes served in the Utah House of Representatives from 2003 to 2018. He ascended to the role of Speaker of the House for the State before the now 54-year-old decided to not seek re-election. He also unsuccessfully ran for Governor of the state in 2020 and attempted to fill the U.S. Representative seat vacated by the retirement of Chris Stewart, before losing in the primary stage.

“I am beyond grateful and excited to join 105.9 KNRS and the iHeartRadio family. I am especially excited, to partner with Rod every day to inform and entertain the greatest listening audience in Utah. We are living in uncertain, but historic times,” said Hughes. “There is a real need for thought leaders today who can reach out and dialogue with public servants, business, and community leaders but most importantly, with everyday Utahns. The Rod and Greg Show will be the place where that happens.. and then some. I’m ready to go!”

 “Greg has been a passionate contributor of political commentary in Utah on TV and radio dating back to 2012,” Arquette added. “His extensive experience and background in public service and public policy allows him to pull back the curtain on what’s really happening in Utah and national politics. Our goal is to bring common sense and fair-mindedness to the issues that are impacting Utah families in an entertaining and informative way.”

Radio Reacts To Aerosmith Retirement News

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Radio Reacts To Aerosmith Retirement News

Rock radio staple Aerosmith announced that it is retiring from touring. Formed in 1970 in Boston, the move comes on the heels of lead singer Steven Tyler’s vocal cord injury.

Tyler, 76, fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show, and his medical team has indicated a full recovery is not possible.

Radio took to social media to react with many sharing pictures with the band over the years.

David Snyder Named Head of Digital Content Marketing at Beasley Media Group

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David Snyder Named Head of Digital Content Marketing at Beasley Media Group

Beasley Media Group announced today that David Snyder has been named the Head of Digital Content Marketing for the company. Snyder spent the past 14 years serving as the CEO at Copy Press, a content marketing platform. Previously, Snyder founded Search and Social, a search and social media marketing agency.

“We could not be more thrilled to welcome Dave into the Beasley family,” said Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley in a release. “His marketing expertise is exactly what we need as we continue to build new revenue streams on behalf of the company.”

“Beasley Media Group is a leader in broadcast content, and I am excited about the opportunity to follow that standard in the digital space,” said Snyder who will be based in Tampa. “I hope to continue building on the existing excellence and help open up new opportunities as the digital landscape evolves.”

Snyder responsibilities will include overseeing digital marketing and building revenue opportunities with an emphasis on newsletters, SEO, websites and affiliate marketing.

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