CBS is planning to bring back the classic game show Hollywood Squares this January, rebooting the popular franchise that previously aired for 14 seasons on NBC. The show will be hosted by Nate Burleson, a former NFL wide receiver who appears on The NFL Today and CBS Mornings on the network. Additionally, he was part of the alternate broadcast for Super Bowl LVIII on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ and is frequently lauded for his versatility. Boomer Esiason, who used to work with Burleson at CBS, reacted to the news on the Boomer & Gio show Wednesday morning.
Co-host Gregg Giannotti introduced the segment by explaining that there had been a change in game show hosts of late. Pat Sajak, the famed Wheel of Fortune host who retired after being on more than 8,000 episodes of the show over 41 seasons, recently retired from the program. Ryan Seacrest will assume the role of host on the program for new episodes expected to premiere in September.
Giannotti then explained that he found out Hollywood Squares was returning and asked Esiason to guess who would be the host and who would occupy the center square. Esiason ended up correctly guessing Nate Burleson as host and Drew Barrymore in the center square on the first try, professing that he had no prior knowledge.
“No, I did not know that, but I just figured it was just a natural fit following the footsteps of Michael Strahan,” Esiason explained. “…And Nate just has a wealth of talent, and he’s bright; he’s up on pop culture. He’s perfect for this.”
There was some disbelief among those in the studio that Esiason genuinely guessed these personalities correctly without possessing knowledge of such decisions beforehand. Yet Esiason explained that he was aware of what each person would bring to the show, especially having worked with Burleson and appearing on Barrymore’s program in the past.
“Let’s be honest – if anything new is happening, Nate Burleson is involved,” producer Al Dukes said. “They are booking him on every show they can.”
“Exactly, and rightfully so,” Esiason replied.
CBS Sports announced that Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms would not be returning to The NFL Today for the 2024 NFL season. Esiason explained that he made the decision to step away from the show after 22 years on the air and that he felt the coverage of Super Bowl LVIII was indicative of his “swan song.” Furthermore, Esiason signed a new multiyear contract extension with Audacy that will keep him on WFAN for several years to come. Giannotti was curious to know if Esiason would ever consider appearing on the show and occupying one of the squares, a hypothetical inquiry that he declined.
“I don’t have time,” Esiason said.
“Yeah, you do,” Giannotti replied.
“No, I have my time now,” Esiason answered. “It’s my time.”
Esiason also explained that game shows are cheap to produce and tape several episodes per day, thus minimizing production time and accommodating schedules. For example, former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan hosts The $100,000 Pyramid on ABC while also co-hosting Good Morning America on the network and appearing on FOX for its FOX NFL Sunday program during the NFL season. Giannotti was curious to know if CBS would have Bill Cowher of The NFL Today appear in one of the squares, and Esiason answered that he could see it happening if it implemented a sports theme.
“But just for the hell of it?,” Giannotti asked.
“No, I don’t see that,” Esiason replied.
The Hollywood Squares game show utilizes two contestants who play a game of tic-tac-toe to win money and prizes utilizing a board with celebrities answering questions. It is up to the contestants to determine if the celebrities are telling the truth or if they are lying in order to win the game.
The topic of Caitlin Clark and her not being chosen for the Olympic team has been all over the sports talk radio airwaves, sports television and just about anywhere else you turn. The subject has brought out a lot of strong opinions and now hosts are battling one another about the opinions they have given. This includes Peter Rosenberg, co-host of The Michael Kay Show on ESPN New York who also co-hosts with Laura Stylez on Hot 97’2 Ebro in the Morning. His thoughts, given on the morning show, which included an opinion on Stephen A. Smith and his take about Clark, drew the ire of Stephen A. as he was getting ready to head to Dallas for the NBA Finals.
Smith told his audience on his YouTube channel that he knows it might seem like he responds to every attack thrown his way, however he estimates he lets 95% of them go without a response. This was not one of those times.
“I’m going to comment about this, because I kind of know this person that said this sh– about me and I’m not letting it go, because I don’t appreciate what he said, actually I think what he said was utter bullsh–,” Smith said about Rosenberg.
“The subject matter is Caitlin Clark and how somebody has decided to go over the public airwaves and completely misconstrue what I said or flat out just lied on purpose. I don’t want to think that Peter Rosenberg lied on purpose.”
Smith then played the clip of Rosenberg from his morning show duties on Hot 97 talking about Caitlain Clark.
Rosenberg said, “It’s almost like Caitlin Clark has been drafted without her own choice to being the face of white fragility. People were like, ‘We want you to be all of the concerns we have about white people getting treated unfairly. We’re going to put that on you, Caitlin Clark.”
Rosenberg would go on to say, “And that’s why Steven A. is catching the button, because he’s jumping in on this train of the Caitlin Clark’s not being treated fairly by the world, which is not only unfair, actually, to Caitlin Clark. Not only are you ruining it. We have something awesome, and everyone is ruining it, but you’re also being unfair to all the other women in this league who don’t deserve to be treated like props because it’s a real competitive league with people who care deeply about this. And this whole idea that if Caitlin Clark isn’t propped up the right way, then it’s not right for the sport. If that’s your take, maybe you don’t really care about the sport and shouldn’t be giving an opinion about it.”
After the clip, Smith spoke about not backing away from his comments about Clark. What he believes is that while nobody deserves to be taken off the roster, Clark should be on it because she is “box office.” Smith talked about the WNBA and women’s basketball clamoring for support and that they should capitalize on the opportunity they have.
Smith then said about Rosenberg, “Why the hell would this guy go out there and say to America, yo, Stephen A. is propping Caitlin Clark up as a victim? What, you the white boy now that’s gravitating to Black folks? And you want to make folks believe, hey, you know something, I mean, this is the latest thing that he’s doing against y’all. Is that what this is?
“You sitting there and you on a station, they playing hip hop music, that make you down, now? You think you know what’s better than me? Is that what this is?”
Smith would go on to say he would expect Rosenberg to pick up the phone and call him or send him a text for clarification before blasting him on the air.
“Once again, I find myself in front of the microphone saying, damn, I couldn’t have gotten a call? For clarification? You couldn’t call? Couldn’t have asked me a question?”
The Florida Panthers took a two-game lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final on Monday, highlighted by a three-goal third period and stellar goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky. The contest was televised on ABC in the United States and elicited an average of 3.6 million viewers on the network, along with a concurrent 1.9 rating. Additionally, the game peaked at 3.9 million viewers for the night. Average viewership of the Game 2 matchup is up 46% from the second game of last year’s Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and Florida Panthers, which was televised on Warner Bros. Discovery networks TNT, TBS and truTV.
The Walt Disney Company, which also presented the game on its ESPN+ streaming platform, attained an average of 1.3 million viewers for the game within the Persons 18-49 demographic, up 18% over the second game of Golden Knights-Panthers last season. Game 1 of this year’s Stanley Cup Final averaged 3.1 million viewers on ABC and peaked at 3.65 million viewers.
Through 43 game telecasts, the Stanley Cup Playoffs on ESPN Networks are averaging 1.5 million total viewers, representing a 31% year-over-year increase. Moreover, viewers within the Persons 18-49 demographic average 608,000, a 23% increase from the previous year.
Monday’s contest is the highest rated second game of the Stanley Cup Final since the St. Louis Blues faced the Boston Bruins in 2019 on NBC Sports Network. Additionally, the contest attained the second-highest average viewership for a Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final since 2018, according to Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. In that year, the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in a second game that averaged 3.65 million viewers on NBC Sports Network.
An average of 6.8 million viewers watched the contest in North America across ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SportsNet and TVA Sports, which is up 61% year-over-year. The second game was down by 300,000 viewers in the continent from Game 1 though, which averaged 7.1 million viewers across the continent.
On Wednesday night, the Stanley Cup Final shifts to Edmonton, Alberta with the Oilers in a two-game deficit trying to collect its first win of the series. The Oilers last won the Stanley Cup in the 1989-90 season, whereas the Panthers have not collected a Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.
It was just another morning at KNBR in San Francisco with riveting and entertaining sports discussion surrounding the local teams. The Golden State Warriors lost a game by one point the night before against the Sacramento Kings, and there was speculation surrounding the San Francisco Giants’ offseason plans. Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey, encompassing the local duo of Murph and Mac that had been on the air for 18 years, were talking about these topics and welcomed several special guests for interviews, including San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Nick Bosa. As the 49ers were gearing up to make a Super Bowl run though, the congenial sound that had become a familiar presence suddenly, without warning, ceased to exist.
There were ostensible warning signs that McCaffrey detected during the latter years of hosting the morning drive program. Cumulus Media, which owns KNBR and a cluster of stations in the San Francisco Bay Area, introduced new management in 2021 that presumably caused a change in culture. McCaffrey perceived an overall lack of connection with the executive team, underscored by a dearth of conversations surrounding promotions and public broadcasts. After years of being visible and in the community, the show became somewhat confined to the studio and purportedly more restrained in its freedom.
“It wasn’t quite as much fun as we had in the past, and the management group that came in were certainly less involved with us, meaning the Murph and Mac show, than previous management groups had been, and this gave us pause,” McCaffrey explained. “We were scratching our heads a little saying, ‘Huh? We’re suddenly kind of feeling like we’re radioactive here, and I’m not sure why’ because we had a lot of success, so the feeling wasn’t a positive one for me.”
On top of that, the program director role exhibited instability over the preceding years with several departures and new hires. Kevin Graham left the station last August for health reasons, which came two years after Jeremiah Crowe stepped aside and moved to Las Vegas. Cumulus Media had granted afternoon host Adam Copeland the program director responsibilities in November, marking the third person to hold the role in a four-year span. Mere weeks after Copeland started the role, KNBR made sweeping alterations to its lineup that affected the livelihoods of several employees and stunned dedicated listeners.
Following the late-November edition of the show, an intern informed Murphy and McCaffrey that they had been called by management for separate meetings. McCaffrey met with executives at the station, including its general manager, where he learned that his time at KNBR would be coming to an end effective immediately.
“I always equated it to like a life in the mafia, because if you’re in the mafia, there are two likely endings,” McCaffrey said. “One of them is you’re going to be jailed, and the other one is you’ll be whacked, and in radio, you don’t get jailed, but I’ve [seen] guys get whacked. I saw Gary Radnich get whacked [and] Ralph Barbieri get whacked, so it’s a long way of saying I was not surprised, and I knew that would be the most likely outcome at some point, so when it came, I wasn’t shocked.”
While McCaffrey and several other KNBR employees were laid off, Murphy was retained in morning drive and paired with Markus Boucher as his new co-host, debuting as the Murph and Markus program almost immediately thereafter. Although the layoffs did not change the dynamic between Murphy and McCaffrey, the situation represented an undesired outcome over which they had no control.
“We were basically forced into a divorce that we did not want,” McCaffrey said, “and it was unfortunate because here’s a situation where you’ve got two guys, partners for 18 years that genuinely like and respect each other that were forced into a separation that we really didn’t want.”
McCaffrey seldom listens to the KNBR morning show at this point because it feels weird to him, comparing it to seeing an ex-girlfriend in public with her new significant other. Nonetheless, he tries not to feel resentment towards KNBR about the situation and focuses on other aspects of his life without bitter sentiment.
“The truth of the matter is I don’t want to give them that much of my energy because the people that are involved with what happened and what led to the breakup of the Murph and Mac show, these are people that had had no impact on the history of that show,” McCaffrey said. “They basically just got here just a couple of years ago, and we had already built our brand. We had already hit our success prior to their arrival, [and it] had nothing to do with them.”
The authenticity demonstrated by Murphy and McCaffrey, combined with the sports talk and compelling conversation, yielded an on-air product that appealed to many local listeners. Neither of them ever had personas specific to their show, he felt, and were instead able to showcase their genuine dispositions to the audience and display that when hosting on location. Concurrently speaking, they understood what their audience wanted to hear and delivered on a consistent basis.
“I always felt like people don’t necessarily want or need a lecture at that hour in the morning on sports and on the right play calls and stuff, and so I try to do a lot of comedy,” McCaffrey said. “I’m a huge fan of comedy; I’m a student of comedy. I’ve studied it really for decades since I was a college student watching standup films of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy and guys like that. I was always very interested in making people laugh, and I tried to do that on the show.”
The amusing levity of McCaffrey and journalistic credibility of Murphy established a sound that attracted and retained scores of listeners. McCaffrey took a pragmatic approach with the show, recognizing that countering Murphy’s background would ultimately prove beneficial.
“I think a lot of other sports talk guys might not have been cool with that – the guys that want to talk serious spots – but Murph always let me be myself, God bless him,” McCaffrey said, “and by doing that, I think my personality is allowed to come to the surface [and] complement his, and the show really worked that way, but he deserves a lot of credit for allowing those things to happen.”
Although the program experienced levels of success in its early years, the show took off when the San Francisco Giants began to regularly contend for World Series championships. As the flagship home of the Giants, KNBR broadcast the games and covered the team during its dynasty of three championships in six seasons. After the team’s night games, the Murph and Mac show was one of the first local entities to broadcast reaction and analysis the following morning.
“When the Giants started to just blast up into the stratosphere, Murph and I just kind of saddled up, got on the rocket and took the ride with them, and we became synonymous with the Giants during those years because there was such a fever for the Giants and the players were such a part of the community,” McCaffrey said. “It was a really special time. I think that happens sometimes in sports when the right team and the right group of guys can capture the interest of a city, and that’s exactly what happened in those years.”
Several years later, listeners continue to remember the essence of Murph and Mac, many of whom communicated their best wishes and support to McCaffrey following his being laid off. Over the ensuing time following the announcement, he would see his phone flooded with messages of goodwill as he tried to acclimate to his new lifestyle. No longer did McCaffrey need to wake up at 4 a.m. and run out the door to the radio station; however, he did not view it as a burden and enjoyed hosting with Murphy on KNBR.
“I don’t think that I really had a clear understanding in terms of how far the reach of the show could stretch because I heard from hundreds and hundreds of people literally, and they did help,” Murphy said. “They made me realize, ‘Hey man, people dug that show. We did a good job. People enjoyed us in the morning,’ and hearing that every day from so many people during that time, it did lift my spirits.”
There has been turmoil at KNBR of late with declining ratings and public controversy involving Copeland, who stepped down from the program director position last month. As KNBR looks to fill the vacancy, McCaffrey is not interested in returning to the station in that role, deeming the hypothetical scenario to be a “disaster of epic proportions.” Even so, he does not miss the office politics and tension surrounding KNBR, some of which involved prognosticating the future of the show. At the same time, he is disappointed to see the situation surrounding the company and feels the outlet needs to rethink things.
“Right now, there’s nobody at the wheel,” McCaffrey said of KNBR. “They’re going to have to get somebody to get their hands on that wheel and start to steer this thing a little bit because you can’t be directionless out on the open sea, right? You’ve got to chart a course and you’ve got to follow that for better or worse, so to me, if any kind of forward progress is going to be made with that station, I think the most obvious think that they need to do is find the right person to sit in that program director chair and get this thing back on the tracks.”
Over the last several months, McCaffrey has been traveling and cherishing the downtime while evaluating the media landscape and thinking about his future. Since he is no longer tied to the morning program, he has had more time to explore innovations in digital media. In fact, he is beginning to question the traditional radio model itself, specifically the need for four-hour shows five days a week. The entire experience has been illuminating, and while it marks a paradigmatic shift, it is one he is compelled to try and embrace. McCaffrey has a group of investors and is working on launching a new sports-focused show with a destination to be determined and looks forward to the freedom therein.
“Sometimes you may love the guys [at the radio station] – you may love their ideas – and there are other times you’re not going to really see eye to eye on things, so the idea that putting a show together and not being holden to anyone else’s thoughts or visions, that to me is really exciting because that represents creative freedom,” McCaffrey said, “and I am one of those guys who thinks that the more ideas you can bring to the table, the better off the product is going to be.”
McCaffrey believes that creativity can be stunted by those who do not have the prudence or vision to actualize future endeavors. None of that will apply with his new project, which will capitalize on ideas they feel are salient or noteworthy, an enticing proposition to construct the product. McCaffrey hopes to bring the audience he helped develop on KNBR to his new program, and would love to work with Murphy again down the road in the right situation. For now though, he is focused on forging his path ahead and returning to the sports talk landscape.
“I just kind of want to get back into doing shows, get back into a rhythm, start to have some fun again [and] do a show in my own vision,” McCaffrey said, “and if I can just get some people to come along and maybe they can spread the word, I do have confidence that it’ll grow, so just knowing that I have an audience out there, even if it’s a small one at first, would be satisfying to me.”
Before this year, I’m not sure too many folks were putting extra effort into unraveling the mysteries of USA Basketball’s selection process for the women’s Olympic team. When you’ve won seven gold medals in a row and have a 72-3 composite record, it’s hard to stir too much controversy over, say, the 12th player.
But that’s where we are today, since Caitlin Clark wound up on the outside looking in. And although Team USA’s first Olympic tipoff is still seven weeks off, we can go ahead and tally up some early winners and losers.
Winner: Sports talk. Seldom have so many babbled so often on a topic about which they know so little. Again, that’s the Clark effect in full bloom. Her stunning rise in popularity during her college years not only riveted fans, but made her name one that sports yakkers could throw out there fearlessly, as if to say, Sure, I follow women’s hoops. (No, you don’t.)
Loser: Olympics watchers. The U.S. women are 54-0 at the Games since 1996, so there’s not a ton of drama attached here. But watching Clark rain down some ludicrous threes on the Paris stage, even if she were limited to 12 or 15 minutes a game, would’ve been fun.
Winner: Caitlin Clark. She’s pretty good. And even if her exclusion from the Oly squad is fully justified by the number of players who are better, Clark receives another popularity bump in a weird, martyred way that I’m sure she wouldn’t seek. She really doesn’t need to be outraged, since people are outraged on her behalf. (Clark could still be added to the roster if injuries or other unforeseen circumstances occur.)
Loser: Women’s basketball. This topic really has been pounded into the ground. But Christine Brennan summed it up best in this piece for USA Today: It’s an airball for the women’s sport not to include its one current, bona fide, no-questions-asked sensation as it takes the world stage. Sensation does not mean best in class. Sensation means sensation. Clark is compulsively watchable right now.
Which brings us to…
Loser: NBC Sports. Wow. Huge. Bigly.
It’s hard to calculate what the NBC Olympics broadcast could have had if Caitlin Clark were selected to the women’s team. It’s hard because we’re trying to add up what didn’t happen, and that’s always a bit of a puzzle.
But here’s what an NBC spokesperson told Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy back in April about Clark’s potential ratings effect, should she make the team:
“Caitlin’s impact on viewership is undeniable and historic,” the spokesperson said. “Her presence on Team USA in Paris would only add to the growing anticipation and excitement for the Summer Games starting in just over 100 days.”
Undeniable and historic. Brennan was on the mark when she suggested that three of the dominant American storylines in Paris likely would have been Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky and Clark. NBC still gets two out of three, but amazing ratings for gymnastics and swimming are almost always guaranteed. The network was already banking on that.
Women’s hoops, while certainly popular, is still ripe for ratings growth. Clark’s presence not only would’ve spiked those ratings, it would have introduced a basketball-watching world to a number of other great players, American and international.
We can’t put an exact dollar figure on what that kind of focus would be worth, but here’s one way to think about it: The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were the lowest-rated on record, with about 11.4 million viewers tuning in during prime time. The 2021 pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games were at 15.6 million. This year’s women’s NCAA basketball title game between Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes and South Carolina drew 18.9 million viewers – the biggest TV audience for a basketball game since 2019, according to Nielsen.
That is men’s or women’s games, college or pro. None higher. That’s absurd. And without diminishing any of the great storylines that ran through that NCAA tournament, including coach Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team completing a perfect 38-0 season, you have to know that the engine of the historic viewership was the sensation of Clark.
As for the Olympics, NBC isn’t exactly suffering. In April, parent company Comcast said the network had already sold $1.2 billion worth of advertising for the Paris Games, including $350 million from first-time buyers.
Still, NBC is in the midst of a $7.65 billion deal to hold Olympics broadcast rights through 2032. In that respect, I guess, every penny counts – and it’s hard to fathom just how many extra pennies Caitlin Clark’s inclusion on the women’s team might have meant, both now and down the road.
Again, it’s hard to total up what you could’ve had. All NBC knows for sure is that it didn’t get the opportunity.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram knows the rules of the game when it comes to Congress better than some of the Congressmen who serve America’s citizens.
Tonight, however, the Senior Congressional Correspondent, along with John Walton, will be trading his suit and tie for a ball and glove at the Congressional baseball game. Pergram believes there’s a larger relationship to America’s pastime and the halls of Congress than what meets the eye. “You’re always kind of looking for an advantage in politics and it’s the same with sports.”
Pergram, began his journalist career while still in High School at WKRC-AM in Cincinnati. “I thought I might do politics and government and that type of thing but I also thought I might do sports.”
A chance encounter at an Ohio diner set the stage for a lifelong career and commitment to journalistic integrity. “One of the guys who was a local judge said ‘You should come down and sit with us sometime for lunch.’”
At lunch, the young Pergram ended up sitting next to John Boehner. “I covered his first race for Congress when I was still in college. But I worked, full-time at a radio station in Cincinnati. And so I’ve always kind of covered politics, specifically Congress.”
While he’s been with Fox News since 2007, Pergram believes his work at C-SPAN, his first Washington D.C. job, elevated his reporting to the excellence we see on screen today.
“When I came to C-SPAN, that was probably some of the best training I ever got about covering Congress. It’s not because you just show up at C-SPAN and they drop all this information into your head. No, it’s because it helped me get to know the players, meaning the members understand the congressional rules.”
Pergram noted a lot of people don’t know or pay attention to the rules, including some members of Congress. “A lot of the members don’t even know the rules, nor staff.”
He believes knowing the rules of Congress is as important as knowing the rules of baseball. “I remember I would sit in my room as a kid in rural Ohio, and there was not a lot to do in the 70s. And I would just study baseball cards. I can tell you statistics on the back of those baseball cards and what every player looked like. It was the same thing coming to Congress.”
The rules help distill votes to a numbers game. “I always say it’s about the math. And so when there’s certain numbers who are out, it’s going to affect the vote total. It’s the same type of scouting reports that you put together in sports as you would for covering Congress.”
Chad Pergram said those in Congressional leadership have to know the rules really well but noted, “We haven’t seen anybody really as good since Robert Byrd left.” Another example Pergram gave of a Congressman who knew the rules well is John Dingell. “He used to say, ‘If you write policy and let me write the rules, I will beat you every time.’”
Tonight’s 7 PM Congressional game is the second consecutive year Pergram will be on the call for the play-by-play, “It’s really fun to do the game. It’s a lot of work that, like most things in life, when you put on and a lot of hard work, it pays off.”
His wife, who is also a sports fan, helps Pergram compile stats and bios for the game. “It’s kind of a labor of love, frankly.”
Some of the challenges of covering tonight’s game include players with the same number. “You know their voices. But when they put on the uniform and a ball cap, you know, you don’t always know who they are.”
While the GOP will wear the same uniform (minus the baseball cap), democrats typically do not. “They wear everything. A lot of major league teams, college, college teams, high school teams, community colleges. For example, I remember Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) would wear the Brooklyn Cyclones.”
Since the annual game doesn’t provide regular statistics, it’s Pergram’s personal knowledge and years of coverage that make it unique. Additionally, the rules of the game are slightly different than regular baseball. “Steve Scalise leads off for the Republicans, and he can’t run because of the shooting several years ago. So they put a designated runner next to him, and it looks like he’s getting in the starter’s blocks, you know, the 100-meter dash or something. And then [the designated runner] takes off on contact.”
Chad Pergram noted his passion for all types of news, adding, “If I probably wasn’t covering Congress, even though I cover some sports stuff, I would probably be doing sports [journalism]. So this is my one occasion from time to time, besides doing the Caps’ game, to do sports.”
Some of his most notable stories have happened both on and off the Congressional field, including the death of Osama Bin Laden, two Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearings, the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game shooting, and the January 6th protests.
“I work in the Capitol every day. It’s my office. It’s a place that I treasure. To see the building ransacked on such an important day where you certify the Electoral College and the Capitol Police get overrun. I’m in the basement, barricading the doors, but on the air live all day.
“Then reporting on the riot and reporting on the certification of the Electoral College. This is how we have a peaceful transfer of power. I mean, that was, beyond dramatic and beyond terrible, frankly.”
For those looking to follow in his footsteps, Chad Pergram believes two things, they need to “pay attention” and “need to be willing to do things that others aren’t willing to do.” For example, “When I was young I got an opportunity but it was working all night doing anchoring the newscast at the radio station in Cincinnati. So everybody else would be going out on Friday night, and I’d be going to work.”
The strategic sacrifice, bunting on a play (aka a night out) just might end up giving someone a career grand slam, as it has for Chad Pergram.
As Championship Season comes to a close and more and more teams drop out of the postseason hunt, sports radio is oftentimes at its best. The annual autopsy dissecting what went right and what went wrong for the teams that didn’t bring home gold trophies is often pretty good radio.
But does the oftentimes overboard nature of those autopsies still reflect that attitude of the average sports radio listener?
Because if you turn on a station after their local pro sports team is eliminated from the playoffs — or in some cases didn’t make the playoffs at all — you’ll hear hyperbolic statements, vitriol at certain players, coaches, or front office members, and questions about the future.
If you look at the reactions from average fans, however, it’s very rarely that. Depending on the situation, you’ll see “Thanks for the memories!” or “What a great year!” posts from fans, more than you’ll see “(Player X) needs to GO!” or “(Insert Coach Here) better be run out of town on a railroad tie by tomorrow morning!,” that often emulates the talk of sports radio.
Now, I recognize that you could argue that the response from fans who share their appreciation for teams that don’t win it all aren’t representative of sports radio listeners. And you’re probably right. It makes completely logical sense that the most diehard fans — the ones who are willing to tweet out a coach’s address, for instance — are the most likely P1s.
But I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had too many listeners.
I’m not arguing for Sunshine and Rainbow Sports Radio. As one of the world’s foremost fans of Don La Greca rants, I can’t pretend as if I don’t like Scream and Yell Radio. Be harsh when the situation calls for it.
But what I don’t enjoy is “Our Team Lost and I Think The Listeners Expect Me to Host a Three or Four Hour Bitch Session Today, So That’s What They’re Gonna Get” Radio.
I’ve made no bones about how much I admire hosts who are willing to zag when the audience expects them to zig. 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman several times a year say “I’m not doing ‘Fire the Coach Radio’ today,” during the Cleveland Browns season.
And I can’t tell you how much faith that instills in me that this medium isn’t simply kowtowing to what fans expect. Because anyone, literally anyone, can sit down in front of a microphone and shout nonsense about how someone should lose their job the first moment something goes wrong.
But it’s much harder to be entertaining, interesting, and informative when you’re challenging the stance of your audience. When you have the cajones to say “You’re being ridiculous and I’ll tell you why.”
In this instance, when seasons are ending and questions abound about the future of a team, it feels like the shoe is on the other foot, though. And I find that situation fascinating.
I don’t know the answer to the question of whether or not sports radio hosts still reflect the attitude of their audiences. And I don’t know if it even particularly matters in the grand scheme of things. But I think it’s a quick way to lose an audience when you think they want something they don’t.
You need to keep your finger on the pulse. If you don’t, you might end up hearing that long, drawn-out, high pitched squeal every medical drama in history has used for dramatic effect.
The 34-count conviction of former President Donald Trump on May 30 provided significant ratings increases for the national networks, especially on cable news. That boosted effect also occurred on the local channels for where the hush money trial took place: New York City.
ABC’s New York affiliate WABC was tops in the market. According to Nielsen, during the breaking news of the Trump verdict, (from 4:45 PM-6:30 PM), WABC achieved an average audience of 435,400 total viewers, 28 percent higher than its closest competitor Fox News (~340,000) in solely the New York area.
In the key 25-54 demographic, WABC posted 93,000 viewers, a 48 percent advantage over #2 Fox News (~63,000).
WABC’s Eyewitness News at 11 PM on May 30 was #1 with 338,000 total viewers, 75 percent higher than #2 WCBS (~193,000), In adults 25-54, WABC delivered 82,400 viewers, #1 over runner-up WCBS (~33,400) by a margin of 147 percent.
NBC’s New York affiliate WNBC saw its 5 PM News deliver a 1.27 household rating (which equates to 96,520 households within the New York market) and a 5 share (meaning 5% of all New York, households with televisions in use had WNBC on) representing an increase of 67 percent compared to the same 5 PM hour on the prior six Thursdays (Apr. 18-May 23).
Demo-wise, the increases were even larger. among adults 25-54, a 0.52 rating/5 share (42,764 viewers aged 25 through 54; +136 percent) and among adults 18-49, a 0.35 rating/4 share (30,257 viewers aged 18 through 49; +94 percent).
WNBC’s other early evening newscasts also benefited:
6 PM to 6:30 PM
Households: 96.857 (1.28 rating/4 share; +2%)
Adults 25-54: 51,163 (0.63 rating/6 share; +80%)
Adults 18-49: 37,277 (0.43 rating/5 share; +54%)
7 PM to 7:30 PM
Households: 85,434 (1.12 rating/4 share; +15%)
Adults 25-54: 41,872 (0.51 rating/4 share; +70%)
Adults 18-49: 33,396 (0.38 rating/4 share; +58%)
Between 4:45-7 p.m., New York City’s 24/7 local news station Spectrum News NY1 experienced a +167 percent increase in ratings vs. the previous month’s average during this period — the largest increase of any broadcast or cable news network based on Nielsen Live+same day household ratings
NY1 continued with extensive coverage until midnight, leading to NY1 experiencing a +100 percent increase in household ratings between the longer period of 4:45 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Updating from Friday’s preliminary numbers, Nielsen’s final data released on June 3 indicated more than 20 million tuned in to the Trump guilty verdict across seven nationally-televised networks.
Fox News was tops with 4.38 million viewers in the 4:45-6 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 30. MSNBC was runner-up with 3.54 million, followed by ABC (3.47 million), NBC (2.53 million), CBS (2.5 million), CNN (2.4 million) and Univision (1.066 million from 7-8 PM).
Unanimous Media is launching a new Audible podcast on Thursday, June 13 featuring Golden State Warriors guard and four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry and his father Dell Curry, who is a former Charlotte Hornets forward and current color commentator for the team’s television broadcasts. This new 10-part Audible Original, titled Heat Check, will “pull back the curtain on their family’s journey, told through the lens of a father and a son, while talking about the biggest names throughout NBA history.” News of the podcast was first reported by Marc J. Spears, senior writer for ESPN-owned Andscape.
Stephen and Dell Curry will reflect on the path to the NBA and several moments throughout their lives. The show will feature special guests, including Stephen’s mother Sonya, former NBA point guard Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, and Stephen and Dell’s agent Jeff Austin. Throughout the Audible Original series, the father-son duo will talk about how Dell established the groundwork for Stephen to excel playing professional basketball.
Curry joins a growing list of active NBA players who have launched their own podcasts, some of whom include his teammate Draymond Green, LeBron James and Paul George. Unanimous Media, which Stephen Curry co-founded with Erick Peyton in 2018, is also in the process of producing an animated sports comedy, titled GOAT, for Sony Pictures Animation. The film will be released theatrically on Feb. 13, 2026, aligning with the NBA All-Star Weekend taking place that year in Los Angeles, Calif.
The company also released the Stephen Curry: Underrated documentary last year and an animated version of the Good Times sitcom for Netflix. Other ventures in which the company has taken part include The Queen of Basketball award-winning documentary, the “I Have a Superpower” children’s book and Holey Moley on ABC. Unanimous Media has previously worked with Audible for its series, The Greatest Sports Stories Never Told, which was narrated by ESPN commentator Joe Tessitore.
Major League Baseball coverage on TBS will continue on Tuesday night with an interleague matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox. The action on the field should be compelling with no shortage of star power, including players such as Rafael Devers, Bryce Harper, Kutter Crawford and Zack Wheeler. Coverage surrounding the game will feature the commentary team of play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson and Jeff Franceour broadcasting the game live from Fenway Park on TBS and streaming on Max.
Ahead of the proceedings, the MLB Leadoff studio program will take place from the Atlanta studios and feature host Lauren Shehadi with analysts Pedro Martínez and Curtis Granderson. Two-time World Series champion and three-time All-Star outfielder David Justice is slated to make his MLB on TBS debut as an analyst as part of the studio program.
Beginning at 6:30 p.m. EST, Justice will join Shehadi, Martínez and Granderson to provide his thoughts on the matchup at hand and contribute to studio coverage. Once the game concludes, he will return to provide studio analysis as a part of MLB Closer on TBS. Jimmy Rollins, who is generally part of the MLB on TBS studio broadcasts, is out for this week’s broadcast.
Justice began his career with the Atlanta Braves and was named the 1990 National League Rookie of the Year, hitting .282 with 28 home runs, 78 RBIs and a .908 OPS. Justice continued to post stellar numbers throughout his major-league career and helped lead the Braves to a World Series championship in 1991. After a stint with Cleveland, Justice was dealt to the New York Yankees and helped the team en route to a World Series championship, garnering the most valuable player honors within the American League Championship Series.
Justice retired from baseball following the 2002 season, when he was a member of the Oakland Athletics during the team’s 20-game winning streak. Throughout his 14 seasons in Major League Baseball, Justice played in the World Series seven times and ranks in the top 10 within several postseason categories, including at-bats, hits and runs scored. Justice formerly served as a color commentator for ESPN and in an analysis role with the YES Network.
