ESPN has announced the nominees for the 2024 ESPYS airing on July 11 at 8 p.m. EST/PST on ABC from Los Angeles. Hosted by Serena Williams, the ESPYS will look back at highlights from the past year and honor several athletes and performances. The ESPYS will also include the presentation of three distinctive pillar honors – the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance and the Pat Tillman Award for Service. Honorees receiving these awards will be announced later in the week, and the ESPYS will support The V Foundation for Cancer Research, which was launched in 1993 by ESPN in partnership with the late Jim Valvano.
On Tuesday’s edition of SportsCenter with SVP, host Scott Van Pelt was joined by Stuart Scott’s daughters Taelor and Sydni to reflect on the 10th anniversary of Scott’s memorable speech at the ESPYS. Van Pelt stated that all donations to The V Foundation for Cancer Research between now and July 11 will go directly to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund. Moreover, an anonymous donor is matching up to $75,000 of all donations that are made leading up to the ESPYS that will benefit the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of Stuart Scott’s ESPYS speech, Scott Van Pelt was joined by Stuart Scott's daughters Taelor and Sydni.
The college baseball season came to a dramatic close on Monday night as the Tennessee Volunteers won their first ever Men’s College World Series by knocking off Texas A&M 6-5 in the deciding game. The game itself drew an average audience of 3.34 million viewers and peaked over 4 million, making it the 2nd most-watched Finals Game 3 on ESPN platforms.
Overall, the MCWS averaged 2.82 million viewers across ESPN platforms, which has it behind only last year’s LSU-Florida series as the most-watched on record.
Game 1 on ESPN and ESPNU saw an average of 2.26 million viewers, making it the 3rd most-watched Finals Game 1 on ESPN platforms. Game 2 on ABC and ESPNU saw an increase to an average of 2.92 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals game 2 on ESPN platforms.
ESPNU was carrying the ump cam alt-cast and drew under 300,000 viewers for each of the games, with Game 2 having the most viewers with 263,000.
Grant Napear, the former Sacramento Kings announcer and KHTK 1140-AM in Sacramento sports talk host, has seen his lawsuit against former employer Bonneville International take the next steps towards a trial. Napear is suing Bonneville for his firing which occurred after a controversial social media post which was tied to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd will hold a summary judgement hearing on July 16, however, if no judgement is granted and there is no settlement reached, a jury trial has been scheduled to begin on November 13 of this year.
After tweeting “All lives matter…Every single one,” less than a week after Floyd died while in the custody of police, Napear lost his radio job with Bonneville and his television job calling Kings games.
The case has been in litigation since 2021.
Napear is a two-time Emmy Award winner and was the host of the Grant Napear Show with Doug Christie. He currently hosts a podcast, If You Don’t Like That with Grant Napear.
Within every corner of Augusta National Golf Club, there is liveliness and tradition as competitors strive for entry into Butler Cabin to receive the heralded green jacket. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Scottie Scheffler are just some of the more recent names who have garnered the title, cementing themselves as champions and commanding the respect of their peers. Over the last several decades, Jim Nantz has been present for every playing of the Masters Tournament, narrating the clinching moments with a scintillating resonance that has left an enduring mark on generations of sports fans.
During the 2019 Masters, Woods was battling through adversity in trying to overcome a fourth back surgery and a decade-long championship drought. Amen Corner proved costly for several golfers, and Woods was able to capitalize by sinking a two-putt par and chipping in a birdie four holes later. Unlike his first Masters win in 1997, Woods’ victory was more difficult to prognosticate, rendering it difficult to think about how the moment could materialize. Nantz did not have anything planned and found out that his family was present as he walked up to the green. The improbable triumph represented a moment that Nantz documented with poignancy and prestige, emphasizing a return to glory for the decorated athlete.
“We go on this journey together to watch it unfold; to find out what is in someone’s heart; to find out what it takes to be a champion,” Nantz said. “It’s a wonderful thing to be entrusted with to document those moments in someone else’s life.”
The calls stand the test of time and have impacted the athletes themselves, as evinced by Keegan Bradley after his Traveler’s Championship victory last year. While Nantz was on the putting green this year at Pebble Beach, Bradley came to thank him for what he said last year and said that it meant the world to him. As a golf commentator, Nantz views each tournament as its own movie and is granted different chances to chronicle history, but the Masters itself has a distinctive feel as “a tradition unlike any other.”
“To me, it has this vibe to it that every year you go there, it feels even more important, and maybe it’s the fact that I’ve now broadcast the Masters for 39 years since 1986,” Nantz said. “I’ve done 39 Masters tournaments, and I know I’m not going to have 39 more. As a matter of fact, I hope, good Lord willing, I hope I get a chance to do 12 more. I would like to get to 51; that is my career goal at this point.”
Nantz originally wanted to call 50 editions of the Masters, but former announcer Jack Whitaker convinced him to extend his goal by one year in order to reach the 100th playing of the tournament. Whitaker, who made his remarks after presenting Nantz with an award in Los Angeles, Calif., thought that he needed to be there to see it and that Augusta would need him there to usher in the next century.
“It was one of the finest pieces of wisdom and compliments at the same time that I’ve ever received in my life,” Nantz said. “So unfortunately, it’s getting closer; it’s drawing near.”
The Green Jacket: Emblematic of the handcrafted brilliance necessary to make Masters history. pic.twitter.com/hhd0clFJCw
After developing a pen-pal relationship with announcer Jim McKay in his youth, Nantz was invited by the award-winning broadcaster to play a round of golf and visit. The experience remains distinctive for Nantz, who vividly remembers advice that McKay gave him to communicate to one person when looking into the camera and to isolate his thoughts. Gazing into the diaphragmatic abyss to begin the broadcast one day, Nantz began the assignment by saying “Hello, friends,” a tribute to his father battling Alzheimer’s disease. Whether it is from the meadows of Augusta or within a broadcast booth four levels above the gridiron, the introduction persists and has become synonymous with Nantz behind the microphone.
“Until I said ‘Hello, friends’ and that became ritualistic for me, I didn’t know exactly what Jim McKay had told me years and years before,” Nantz explained. “I began to talk to one person – it was my father on the other side of the lens.”
Nantz does not feel complacency when he arrives in Augusta, Ga. every year; rather, he emits a sense of gratitude that he has been bestowed the coveted assignment. Even though he has been on the broadcast for 39 years, he feels more nervous calling the action than anything else he feels amid the broadcast. The origin of this self-applied pressure is something Nantz discovered while taping an episode of his annual special, Jim Nantz Remembers Augusta, interviewing three-time Masters Tournament champion Nick Faldo. Faldo explained that every time he took a shot on the course, it was a reflection of his ability and the realization of a moment he strived to attain.
“He didn’t know it, but that is the exact way that I’ve approached that broadcast since I was 26 years old,” Nantz said. “Every story; everything that leaves my lips is a matter of record on my ability that I trained my whole life to be to be sitting at Augusta to call that tournament, and I want it to be just right.”
The NFL on CBS
This past season, the NFL on CBS attained several viewership milestones to establish new records. Leading up to its broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII, CBS averaged 45.61 million viewers during the postseason, marking its strongest viewership since the network resumed telecasting NFL games in 1998. The AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens averaged 55.47 million viewers, marking the most-watched iteration of the event ever recorded. Within the regular season, CBS Sports had large audiences for its Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day games, all of which encapsulated a viable precursor to the ultimate endeavor many years in the making.
“The game is a book, and each play is a separate chapter, and you have roughly 130 chapters in this story that you’re going to tell, but you don’t know which chapter is the pivotal one, so you have to be ready for each and every one,” Nantz said. “I love that challenge, so I [try not] to overthink it; I really try to just be a fan.”
Leading into a typical NFL broadcast, Nantz is preparing throughout the week by reading, conducting interviews and reviewing key information. Once the game arrives, Nantz is situated in the broadcast booth alongside lead game analyst and former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, with whom he has worked for the last six seasons. Over that time, they have developed a relationship and built chemistry to allow themselves to accurately capture the game in a comprehensive and compelling manner.
“Instead of looking at the monitors or looking at the field standing side-by-side but not making eye contact, it’s the exact opposite,” Nantz said. “We’re making eye contact throughout the course of the broadcast, I mean constantly. When the play happens, our eyes go to the field. When the ball is tackled down or incomplete, we turn to one another and we communicate with one another, and I’ve really enjoyed being able to have that opportunity for a conversation with my partner on the air, and Tony’s been just ideal with that.”
Romo entered the sports media industry following his retirement from the NFL without any previous broadcasting experience, inking a 10-year contract with CBS Sports to broadcast games. The former quarterback, however, quickly showcased his aptitude and prowess on the telecasts and thrived in the new role.
Nantz and Romo called a series of rehearsal games in a studio with little to no preparation, a challenging endeavor that strengthened their bond and assembled a paradigm. The duo also announced three preseason games in person and built on the progress they had made. Tom Brady is on the precipice of starting his 10-year contract with FOX Sports and could experience the challenges that the role frequently presents.
“It’s just there’s that learning curve of, ‘How do you do this? I mean, man, that game just flew by. It moved so quickly,’” Nantz said. “That’s always the common theme that you hear from newcomers, and I’m sure that’s something that Tom’s going to feel as well.”
Continuing to develop a sense of timing and rapport as they called games, Nantz and Romo called their first Super Bowl as a duo at the conclusion of their second season working together. The matchup turned out to be the last time Brady won a championship as a member of the New England Patriots. Nantz and Romo called another Super Bowl broadcast two seasons later under health and safety restrictions implemented amid a devastating, unprecedented global pandemic.
This past February, Nantz called his seventh Super Bowl as a broadcaster as the Kansas City Chiefs faced the San Francisco 49ers. The week leading up to the game was replete with different obligations, including team meetings, an awards ceremony and a press conference. Nantz tried to keep things as normal as possible, preparing in the same way that he did during the regular season.
The game had plenty of star power with Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Brock Purdy and Deebo Samuel among the cohort of players competing for the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Moreover, award-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift was in the stands supporting the Chiefs and Kelce, whom she began to date several months earlier.
Super Bowl LVIII spanned four quarters and nearly a full overtime, ending on a game-winning touchdown caught by Mecole Hardman resulting in jubilance and despondency. Nantz did his best to depict the moment, punctuating the victory by exclaiming, “Jackpot, Kansas City!,” and allowing the euphoria to tell the rest.
“I’ve never been more proud of a show than what we did for the Super Bowl,” Nantz said. “There’s not a play or a call or a story that I want back – none, zero.”
“Jackpot, Kansas City!”
Super Bowl LVIII on CBS was the most-watched telecast in history with a total audience delivery of 123.7 million average viewers across platforms, including the CBS television network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon and Univision, along with CBS Sports, Univision and NFL digital properties. This broke the previous record set the year prior and also attained the highest unduplicated total audience in history with 202.4 million viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research and Adobe Analytics. Although Nantz recognizes that the audience size for the Super Bowl is unparalleled, he approaches the high-stakes championship game in a similar manner to other broadcasts.
“It not only set records, it set a record that it’ll be ready hard to break that one in terms of audience size,” Nantz said. “I think it’ll sit on the shelf for a long time.”
Super Bowl LVIII on CBS won three Sports Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and received plaudits from those within the sports media business. Nantz estimates that he has called between 400 and 500 NFL games in his career and regards that broadcast as his favorite to have ever called in that area. Furthermore, he is fortunate to have worked with nearly 1,000 people involved in the broadcast who have earned the chance to work on the premier event of the football season.
“That one will be around for a long time as the standard for the most-watched television event – not sporting event – television event in American history,” Nantz said, “and I’m just really proud of Jim Rikhoff’s leadership, Mike Arnold’s directing of that game and everyone that answered to those two leaders because they do lead us through these shows.”
While the network has broadcast the big game before and is scheduled to do so again in the future, Super Bowl LVIII represented the last such broadcast under Sean McManus, the longtime chairman of CBS Sports. McManus retired from the sports media industry this past April after 27 years leading CBS Sports and was pivotal in reacquiring NFL rights and growing the division’s overall portfolio. McManus, the son of Jim McKay, grew up around sports media and has left an indelible legacy as a venerated, shrewd voice in the industry.
“We had our farewells and goodbyes to him at the Super Bowl, at the Final Four and then of course the last one being at the Masters,” Nantz said. “My life and my career is so intertwined with Sean – it goes way back – and I am so proud to be able to work hand in hand with Sean all those years. He will always be somebody that I’ll treasure the fact that we did these things together, and I hope he feels the same way.”
Signing Off from Houston
Nantz had always possessed a penchant for CBS, doing everything that he could to elicit the recognition of the broadcast network in his formative years in the business. While he was studying at the University of Houston, Nantz worked as a fill-in anchor for KHOU-TV and full time for the CBS Radio affiliate in the city. Throughout the process of honing his craft, Nantz played mind games to determine where he stood nationally, data that was harder to access because of the absence of the internet.
“I didn’t know what else was going on around the country, but I had to think that being in the fourth-largest city in the country and being on air on a network affiliate, I was doing good things,” Nantz said. “I was doing good things in pursuit of my goal, and I was completely – my life was overtaken by this goal – I mean, it was truly overtaken.”
Operating as a one-man band, Nantz did not always have time to write his own scripts and ad-libbed his way through the shows, growing comfortable speaking extemporaneously with purpose. He has been able to maintain the skill over the years and focus on speaking in a genuine, sincere manner to the audience rather than reading copy. At the same time, he also heeds the advice of legendary golf producer Frank Chirkinian of being himself and exuding his passion for the game.
“I would rather know what we want to say and stumble through it if I do as long as it sounds heartfelt,” Nantz said. “I would rather be choppy and real as opposed to being clean, perfect and unrelatable, which is what happens when you get locked in with that glazed-over look staring at a prompter.”
Nantz achieved his goal of working at CBS a few years later, originally contributing to golf and college football coverage in a variety of roles. When Brent Musburger left the company in 1990, he was promoted to the lead play-by-play announcing role for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four. Following the end of the NFL season, Nantz would generally prepare to call contests throughout the tournament, including the National Championship Game, but this year signified a change in routine. The University of Connecticut Huskies secured the championship over the San Diego State Aztecs, after which Nantz expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude as he signed off March Madness for the 32nd and final time.
“It was Houston, my gateway city to my career, and it was a CBS year, and the only thing that could have made it any better would have been if my alma mater would have been playing in the Final Four,” Nantz said. “We were a 1-seed, my Houston Cougars, but we got knocked out in the Sweet 16. But it felt right; it felt absolutely just right.”
Ian Eagle called the Final Four this year on television for the first time while Nantz took a block of time away from the business that he had not had for nearly four decades. For many years, his workload required a year-round commitment to calling several sports without an extended rest.
Nantz refers to it as the “golden hamster wheel” he has been on since the 1980s, and while he understands the gravity of what he has achieved, he wanted to step back and spend more time with his family. As a result, Nantz was able to enjoy spring break with his family and attend March Madness as a fan, including the Final Four from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“I sat there and watched it with a grateful heart sitting about five rows behind my old broadcast position thinking, ‘I sat in that seat for 32 years. How is that possible? How fortunate am I to be able to have had that seat?,’” Nantz reflected. “It was an amazing event to be entrusted with. It will always be an amazing event, and I just sat there so grateful to be in the arena and look at it from that lens.”
“Thank You for Being My Friend.”
The Sportscasters Talent Agency of America (STAA) presents the Jim Nantz Award annually to the top collegiate student sportscaster in the country, considered to be among the most esteemed honors in the industry for aspiring professionals. Many of the previous winners continue to thrive in sports media, including Drew Carter, Alex Faust and Carlo Jiménez, and also keep in touch with Nantz, who records a congratulatory video for the winner. Nantz himself does not have a vote for the award, something he expressed when it was first established, and he is somewhat incredulous that the distinction is named in his honor.
“These kids that are in the chase every year to win the award and receive also, by the way, tremendous recognition for being ranked in the country,” Nantz said. “It’s not just the one award winner every year. There’s dozens of kids who compete for this at these schools across the country, and I know what they’re feeling. I know their passion. That was me – that’s still me – but to have my name on it, I can’t begin to say how much that means.”
As Nantz reflects on his time behind the microphone thus far, he has called every event he has wanted to and realized a childhood dream. In broadcasting college football and NFL games, golf tournaments, college basketball and hosting studio programming, including The NFL Today for six years, he is appreciative of the trust placed in him to serve as a storyteller and guide, navigating the twists and turns of the action. Nantz is thankful for the relationship he has with the viewers and continues to demonstrate affability in his greeting.
“I can’t quantify it any other way than just the kindness that comes in my everyday life from people that want to say ‘Hello’ or say something nice or take a picture or whatever it might be,” Nantz said. “I’m touched that it means something to them because I long for nothing [and am] grateful for everything, but when I was a little boy, this was the life I wanted. This was the life that I obsessed and prayed for, and I’ve been given that chance and I will never take it for granted – never.”
With JJ Redick formally introduced as the Lakers’ latest head coach, it’s time to consider the damage at ESPN with regard to its NBA product. Over the past year, the network:
Blew apart a very successful trio that had worked 15 NBA Finals together;
Saw that crew fall apart after a career coach returned to his chosen profession;
Made what many saw as an inevitable elevation by promoting its most ambitious broadcasting prospect;
Lost him, too, when Redick sprinted to the head-coach gig in L.A.
No offense, ESPN, but maybe sit out a round?
Better yet: Just roll with what you’ve got.
Under no circumstance is the network better off today than it was when Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy sat courtside as ESPN’s top NBA broadcasting team at last year’s NBA Finals. Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy enjoyed a rapport that took years to develop and hone – “something special,” as Breen put it. They got better, seldom coasted, and conspicuously rose to meet the best moments of the season and the playoffs.
ESPN’s whispered reasoning for the dissolution of that crew always sounded faintly ridiculous, especially the idea that the network was worried Van Gundy would jump to a coaching job at some point. First, ESPN has constantly been used as such a springboard across all its major sports holdings, and with no complaint. Second, you don’t bounce Van Gundy (who actually worked 17 Finals with Breen) out of fear. You keep a winning thing together until you can’t.
Closer to the truth, we suspect, is that financial pressure from parent company Disney factored into almost every decision made — Van Gundy in June of last year, Jackson the following month, many others before and since. It saved the network some dough at a time when Disney was ordering a bloodletting at ESPN, a sad process that we’re still seeing play out.
So that happened to the NBA crew, and after it came the turbulence. Doc Rivers stayed only for as long as it took him to land a choice job in Milwaukee. Redick appreciated his being tapped – “What an honor. I’m so grateful,” he said – but by then he was already in a months-long on-air audition for the coaching job he landed. Say this for ESPN: Their folks often find soft landings elsewhere.
The question now isn’t one of options, because despite whatever diminishment has occurred, this is still ESPN. The network isn’t going to run out of good candidates, and this particular job is going to remain a coveted one.
No, the question is – or at least ought to be – whether ESPN needs to do anything. After a brilliant run in a three-person setup for a decade and a half, the network tried a couple of patch jobs last season, apparently operating on the assumption that three is how many you need to get that NBA game called well. But is it?
What last season should have proved to ESPN is that it matters which people you’ve got, not how many. We could spend the rest of this column and all of the next one on the NBA on TNT, but the short of it is that Ernie, Shaq, Kenny and Charles click on that show not because there are four of them, but because they’re the right four.
Mike Breen is a consummate professional, a term you sometimes hear to describe someone who makes almost any circumstance work out. That’s shorting Breen by half; he’s also just a great game-caller. Doris Burke rose through the ranks one promotion at a time because she, too, is really good at what she does. More Breen, more Burke is a good thing, not a bad one.
They’re good together. They also are two people who happen to want the jobs they already have. These are their destination positions. It is so much easier to excel at something when you know it’s the thing you want to do, as opposed to being the thing you’re doing because you think it’ll set you up for the next move.
ESPN doesn’t need to decide anything for a while. Here’s hoping its executives consider the obvious: After a year of tumult, the answer they’re seeking could be right in front of them – and already doing the work.
Tens of thousands of podcasts are relying on Triton Digital to build their audience, maximize revenue, and streamline their day-to-day operations. From technological innovations to providing data on who is streaming your podcast and/or radio broadcast, Senior Vice President of Measurement Products & Strategy Daryl Battaglia plays a pivotal role.
“[I am responsible for] understanding, the profile of the audience, who the listeners are, and helping to create products and provide those insights to the publishers,” Battaglia told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
The information Daryl Battaglia provides is key for those who, create and distribute that content to help sell advertising. But it’s not easy, new technologies are making it harder to measure audiences.
“There’s so many different places that you can consume content and so being able to measure all of that you are no longer able to rely on, ‘We’re going to record a sample of 10,000 people that will reflect the population.’ You may only have a few people who were listening and watching one particular piece of content and that’s just not enough to rely on samples.”
Another issue with getting data? Third-party listening platforms. “A lot of the listening comes through third-party platforms. So a lot of that means that these are not registered, logged-in listeners, or telling you who they are. You have some information about where they’re located, what type of device they’re located on, and what IP address are they on, but you can’t fully understand from that data alone.”
Key questions for those gathering data include, “What are the demographics of these listeners? What are the purchase behaviors/shopping behaviors of these listeners? And how many unique listeners are there, within any particular segment of the population?”
Without this data, it’s more difficult to know who you are marketing to and what type of advertisers you need. “Because listening can occur on any third-party platform, [our] measurement has to include different methods to help fill those gaps.”
One of the really good pieces of what Battaglia and his team are finding is that podcasting is growing, in more ways than one. “What we’ve seen across markets is typecasting. The audience is continuing to grow and the number of listeners is continuing to grow. The types of segments of the population that came to podcasting, in particular early, now that’s diversifying, growing, and growing. And so we’re seeing other segments of the population, women, and older listeners, for instance, that are now growing and catching up.”
With the data Battaglia and his team have gathered, he noted listeners for podcasts are, “still younger than the general population. It is also more educated, higher-income people with a lot of purchasing power, which is particularly appealing to advertisers. So it’s not getting older per se, but it’s becoming a medium that appeals to everyone. And so those that weren’t early adopters of podcasting are now catching up.”
Battaglia does have some ways to gain more information on who’s listening but it requires a lot of work.
“Part of what needs to occur with that is to filter it back to only those records that should be counted as legitimate listening. So there’s things like machine traffic, that exist within the data and we use a variety of methods to be able to clean that data. We collect data from a variety of different sources for different plants of ours, and we kind of normalize all that to make it similar and comparable.”
Sometimes the team will input this data into their own or a third-party software product to analyze it better. But the team at Triton Digital has gone above and beyond that creating their own products.
“For instance, with podcasting, we have a Demos+ product to help understand who the audience is for each podcast. We use a combination of that big data that I mentioned previously, along with surveys of podcast listeners that we do help understand them better and we help produce estimates and really know who the audience is for each podcast out there that we measure.”
Today, Triton’s clients include iHeart Audience Network, Salem Media Group, Christian Broadcasting System, and 1,800 others who operate in over 80 different countries. Another part of their focus is “making today’s audio better and tomorrow’s audio possible” with technological advances.
“Podcasting has been around technically about 20 years, but it’s still new. And there’s a lot of data, reporting infrastructure, and tech that needs to be created in order to make the marketing work as seamless as possible.”
But what makes the numbers trustworthy?
“A lot of rigor regarding the methodology and the review of the data. The expertise that you develop from working with that data and detail level. Industry standards matter as well,” Battiglia went on to note. “In podcasting, we have the IAB Tech Lab podcast guidelines for which Triton has been audited and certified. That helps for sure. Additionally, transparency regarding how you’re doing [your research]. For instance, we put our methodology, description, and documents to make that clear. [Also] just being consistent with that over time helps to build that trust.”
While Battiglia uses all this tech to help on the back-end of podcasting he doubts we will hear an AI voice coming to the airwaves. “I’m not an expert on AI. I know it’s capable of many things but there is such a uniqueness to some of the great content that gets produced. It’s hard to believe that any sort of machine can do that … There are some other things that maybe only a human can do that are just unique. Things of one individual’s imagination.”
For those of you looking to use your imagination and take your podcast to the next level, Battaglia believes there is no golden rule on when it’s time to monetize your product.
“Some podcasts are better geared to a broad audience base and have the potential for big audiences. Other podcasts may be more specialized and may not be big audiences, but may be different, and important for a select segment of the population. Even those can be monetized with advertising and sponsorships that are directly catered to towards that type of audience.”
Earlier this week, JJ Redick dropped a pair of f-bombs during the press conference introducing him as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. And sports media members lost their minds.
I lost track of how many sports media figures I saw either take to social media, their television, or radio shows to argue against the language used by Redick, who said “I don’t really have a great answer for your question because I really don’t give a f—,” when asked if he had extra motivation to prove critics wrong due to him jumping straight from the ESPN broadcast booth to the bench.
The number of Helen Lovejoy’s shouting “Won’t somebody please think of the children?!” as Redick, a grown man, had the audacity to use language the overwhelming majority of sports media figures use was outrageous and grandstanding at it’s best.
I have one message to those people: shut the f— up.
First of all, what is almost near universally the biggest criticism of the figures we cover? That they’re inauthentic, they don’t actually answer our questions, they give canned non-answers, and don’t ever let their guard down enough for us to get honesty from them.
And this situation is exactly why those walls remain up.
JJ Redick — for better or worse — is unapologetically himself. He has never been one to overtly care about what the public perception of him is. It’s likely the reason he finds himself in the position he’s in.
And yet, what was the biggest takeaway from his press conference? That he used foul language! Oh my! The horror! The horror!
Listen, I understand the argument about there being a time and place. And is a press conference the correct situation to speak like that? Maybe not. But he was honest. He shared his true feelings. And we should celebrate that, not use it as a way to virtue signal to our followers or audiences that we’re holier than thou.
Furthermore, I believe the radio and TV stations covering the event live have a legitimate gripe. They probably weren’t hovering over the dump button with bated breath, expecting words that aren’t exactly FCC-friendly to be uttered.
But for sports reporters and hosts to pretend as if it was some great blunder, one that was simply unconscionable for an NBA head coach to blurt out, couldn’t be more ridiculous.
We should do everything we can to empower those we cover to feel comfortable enough to let their guards down enough to speak to us like they would a close friend. Not tear them down because we may disapprove of the language used.
A popular argument against using words like Redick did is that it makes someone sound “dumb” or “uneducated.” JJ Redick graduated from one of the finest institutions of higher learning in our great country. His podcast was a play on words from a literary classic. Am I supposed to pretend as if because he used words that millions upon millions use that he’s some sort of caveman? Hell no.
He’s passionate. And he felt comfortable. It isn’t the “coarsening of our society.” He spoke like a human being. It’s refreshing, from my standpoint.
If you’re angry about Redick jumping to the front of the NBA coaching line while others toil as assistants or in the G-League, that’s a fair gripe! If you think JJ Redick is a pretentious, condescending know-it-all, join the club, because so do I! But to grab your torch and pitchforks because he said the f-word? Pure insanity.
Also, if he used words that you don’t like hearing or don’t believe should be used in public setting, that’s fine. That’s your prerogative. However, that’s your prerogative. Expecting everyone else to think, speak, and act just like you is an awful highfalutin mindset, isn’t it?
Now, JJ Redick isn’t the first person to catch the ire of the sports media for his language, and he certainly won’t be the last. But I’ll take the opposite approach from what I saw on social media and the airwaves. I’ll embrace the coaches, players, front office personnel, and anyone else involved in the teams, conferences, leagues, sports, or whatever situation may be that feels compelled to freely speak their minds, foul language be damned.
I’m of the belief that his time in the media will make JJ Redick a breath of fresh air for not just NBA media but sports media as a whole.
But if we’re going to critique the language he used at his introductory press conference, I imagine it will only go down from here. And that’s a shame. Because if JJ Redick doesn’t give a f—, I’d suggest you do the same.
I always have been tough on columnists. They’re not original, they’re not creative, they’re not insightful news media members, and they’re not funny.
Then, I became one – and one is the keyword.
I didn’t have to write three a week – just one.
One.
And it was not easy, especially as I continue to grow a morning AM radio show, do some television work, raise three kids, and support a spouse with a rather big job as well.
My point is that I’ve gained a healthy respect for anyone who writes a column, whether it be once a week or three times. You cannot be a good columnist in any segment of media — be it sports, news, politics, or media — without doing some real reporting.
I say this as I write my final column (for now) for Barrett News Media.
It’s simple: I don’t have the time to do it right, and I don’t want to go on record with half-assed stuff.
So for now, I am stepping back as a writer on this site. But what I am not doing is stepping back as a consumer.
What Jason and his team are building is so much fun to watch, read, and share. I think it proves to me – as it does to most of you – that I like the industry itself as much as I like what I do in that industry.
Our business is changing all the time, and if you’re not trying to learn from others and what’s trending, you’ll be doing something else … soon.
That’s another thing that I’ve learned: Perhaps, we are all on borrowed time.
I love my radio job, but resources are thin, people get laid off seemingly every quarter and there’s no sign of a shift in the other direction. I used to think that all I had to do was have good interviews, bring a fresh perspective, and deliver some legitimately interesting information. The ratings, advertisers, and money would simply follow.
Not true.
How do we grow enough to feel more secure?
That may not be an answerable question, but it could be syndication, TV simulcasting, or getting on the FM dial. It might have to be all of those things, and that may not be enough, either.
The scary part is that only one of the three aforementioned expansion ideas is even available to me right now.
I think about these issues all the time because I cannot imagine doing a job outside of media. My cocktail party joke when I speak to friends and family who have no idea what I do and often have wondered why I still do it (They seemingly think that working in media is equivalent to not growing up): I am like an indoor cat. Put me outside (i.e. another job), and I die.
So, most of my effort in life goes toward avoiding that fate.
Beyond those avenues for potential growth, there’s another where there is zero near-term ROI but I truly feel I need to figure out.
Yes, it’s social media. Duh.
I have written extensively on the fact that I am old school and have no real interest in TikTok, Facebook, or Instagram. But I fear if that does not change, I will be in real trouble.
I don’t have any facility for it and very little interest in it, yet somehow, I feel like it’s my most pronounced blind spot.
Perhaps, I will try and swap the time spent on this news media column for legitimate efforts at making videos and taking pictures – with the proper captions, algorithms, and hashtags, of course.
But I doubt it. What can I say? I’m an indoor cat.
It is the nature of linear television where year-to-year erosion of viewership is commonplace, as an increasing amount of options that vie to occupy our time become available. But that isn’t the case for programs like NBC News Daily.
Four distinct daytime programs on the broadcast networks exhibit these current trends but with varied ratings tracks.
ABC’s The View has remarkably remained steady in total audience. From Apr. 15 through June 14, but not counting its rerun week of Apr. 22-26 nor its days surrounding Memorial Day weekend, the long-running talker averaged 2.23 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research — its year-ago period (Apr. 24-June 16, 2023) drew 2.22 million.
However, its demographics tell a different story, one that’s indicative of the accelerating aging shift where audiences are skewing older. Among women 25-54, The View posted a 0.3 rating (note: a 1.0 rating equates to approximately 615,900 female viewers from ages 25 through 54). That marks a 25 percent decrease from its year-ago performance in females 25-54 (0.4 rating).
It was a similar demo story for another ABC program, GMA3: What You Need to Know — based on the same aforementioned periods, down 24 percent in women 25-54 (0.22 rating in 2024 vs. 0.29 in 2023). In terms of total viewers, the third hour of Good Morning America is off by ten percent (1.29 million vs. 1.43 million).
NBC News Daily, installed on NBC affiliates following the network’s 2022 move of longtime soap opera Days of Our Lives to its Peacock streaming service, still brings up the rear among network daytime shows, as it averages 1.1 million viewers. But that actually represents a year-to-year increase of 7 percent (from 1.03 million). And although its 0.22 F25-54 rating is down one percent (from a 0.23), NBC News Daily outperforms GMA3 within the demo, by mere decimal points (0.225 vs. 0.220).
Year-over-year demo decreases for The Talk, CBS’ answer to The View since 2010, have not been as steep in comparison to ABC’s fare: down 12 percent in F25-54 (0.26 vs. 0.29). But what may be a sign of waning interest as it heads towards the December 2024 conclusion of its production, it’s also down 15 percent in total viewers (1.22 million vs. 1.43 million).
The Talk of last year’s second quarter was only factored through May 12, 2023 as it went on hiatus due to the Hollywood writers’ strike. For its rerun week of June 12-16, 2023, it averaged 1.243 million viewers; in original editions for June 10-14, 2024, it delivered 5 percent less, having averaged 1.187 million viewers.
The NHL season reached its conclusion with a near-historic seven game series between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers, which the Panthers won four games to three. This was the first Stanley Cup championship in the history of the organization. Across North America, the NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 7 drew 16.3 million viewers between ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes, CBC, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. Since the data has been tracked in 2004, the is the second most-watched NHL game across North America on record.
ESPN says the game drew 7.7 million viewers in the U.S. on its platforms, an increase of 182% over last year’s final game which was Game 5 between Florida and Vegas. It was also an increase of 32% over the 2022 final game between Colorado and Tampa Bay.
The game peaked at 10.3 million viewers from 10:45 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET and drew the largest non-Original Six audience on record. The Original Six consists of the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Overall, the Stanley Cup Final averaged 8.8 million viewers across North America and 4.2 million viewers in the U.S.
Seventh Heaven: 16.3 Million Viewers Watched Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final Across North America pic.twitter.com/amaY9BNcRf
