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What the Donald Trump Guilty Verdict Means for the Future of News/Talk Radio

Peter Thiele
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We have convicted a former President. Because of a blind rage, political enemies have convicted a former President — Donald Trump — of a non-crime and this may be the best thing ever.

I was speaking with someone that I agree with on most things on a political level. He is convinced that when/if a Republican President is elected again, the political targeting of Democrats by the Justice Department should end. I am thinking of the topics for news/talk radio. Just like the nuclear option for confirming federal judges, this will bite the Democrats in the buttocks.

In 2016, the people at Trump rallies chanted, “Lock Her Up!” When Donald Trump was victorious in the 2016 election, the real case against Hillary Clinton was dropped. The so-called fascist did not lock up his political opponent. Say what you will about Trump, his Justice Department could have pursued charges against Hillary Clinton. Trump didn’t. Why? She did break a couple of laws, like mishandling classified documents and destroying evidence among other things.

Now the floodgates are open, we have a former President who ordered the killing of at least one American citizen who was not on a field of battle. Where was the due process? President Obama didn’t kill the man personally. He ordered the death, just like Charles Manson. If we are learning about murder, there is no expiration date of indicting someone for a killing. Ask the Gilgo Beach Killer.

So, if we are finding a friendly judge and jury to convict our political enemies… let’s go!

The door is open and closing those doors is very difficult. Ask anyone who has struggled with addiction. I know people who tried a beer when they were 15 and were completely amazed by the feeling. Of course, addiction can be a disease of physical and psychological torture. Once someone is addicted, addressing that issue is a lot of work.

The “Nuclear Option” in the United States Senate created a bunch of problems. It created a more politicized judicial system. This does not help our nation. I don’t care where you are on the political spectrum, this was bad for the United States of America.

We have billionaires underwriting the campaigns of District Attorneys around the USA. There are people who think that criminals don’t have enough power. Let’s free those alleged felons who are just misunderstood. These people who ransack the Walgreens or the grocery store are just sticking it to “The Man!” I love shoplifting! No, not really. I like paying for things.

The law now means zero. Have you ever watched “The Purge?” We now live in a time where this scenario is reality. It is funded by the super-rich who can afford personal security. Lawfare is everywhere now.

How is this good for news/talk radio? The answer is on the way.

It is all about finesse. Couching the truth behind an amazing sugary concoction.

Be consistent, but don’t be one-dimensional. If you have been in this business for any amount of time, you know hosts who are totally predictable. Don’t be that host.

Here is why convicting former Presidents is amazing. It allows news/talk radio to delight in amazing content. More stuff to say about it is a total win for us.

I am guessing that Donald Trump will be sentenced to jail. This judge is totally insane.

Shortsightedness is an evil in our society. It allows people to live off of their emotions. Humanity’s weakness is our emotional impulses. It leads us to bad marriages, terrible financial decisions, and regrettable moments that can destroy a life.

In the 24/7 news cycle, news/talk depends on rich content. Barack Obama on trial. Joe Biden on trial. George W. Bush on trial. The possibilities are endless!

Convicting Donald Trump in a trial like this is so horrific. If you hate the Orange Feller, you need to take a step back. Look at the bigger picture. We must consider the ramifications. If you believe that there is not a negative reaction for our society, you are just missing the truth.

How many people remember MF Global? Former Governor and United States Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ). MF Global collapsed due to severe mismanagement and was quite frankly a Ponzi scheme. Jon Corzine was fined $5 million. Corzine walked away without going to jail for stealing people’s money. Allen Stanford and Bernie Madoff went to jail for the same crime Corzine was not jailed for.

Lawfare is amazing. I love it. Donald Trump has the old man strength. Opening this door is not a good idea. Steve Inman on X frequently shows a younger man thinking that he can bully an old man. That old guy usually winds up and shows the man in his prime who is the boss. @SteveInmanUIC and yours truly are certainly worth a follow.

Don’t mess with the old guy. These men are willing to push their mission and ideas. They do not give a flying you know what about their age. Young guys don’t try him. You will likely regret it. Anyone who has built a home knows how tough that is. Real estate developers are a totally different breed. Don’t try that guy.

It is all about content. Let’s delight in the legal process.

WBEN 930 Brand Manager Lisa Polizzi Wanted to Be In the Thick of the News in Buffalo

Garrett Searight
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WBEN 930 Brand Manager Lisa Polizzi Wanted to Be In the Thick of the News in Buffalo

In December of last year, WBEN 930 in Buffalo named Lisa Polizzi its new Brand Manager, succeeding Tim Wenger, who was elevated to Senior Vice President and Market Manager for the Audacy cluster.

It was a return of sorts for the Buffalo native. Before working in local television in various roles in the market, including Executive Producer and News Director, Polizzi began her media career at WBEN and 550 WGR in 2002.

“My love has always been radio,” Polizzi said. “That’s what my concentration was when I was in school. So coming here is really like a homecoming for me.”

Polizzi added that during her tenure in local television news, she kept her eye on openings at the venerable Buffalo news/talk station.

“I’ve always listened to the station. I’ve listened to the station every day for decades driving into work. It’s what I would have to listen to. We’re the news station of record. If I wanted my traffic, wanted my weather on my way in, and wanted to get caught up for the day, this is what I would be listening to,” she said. “I always had my finger on the pulse of what was going on in the radio world, so as soon as this job opened up — very rare — I started talking to Tim about it.”

While WBEN holds that “station of record” status, it would be easy to be intimated by the challenge of leading such an important brand to Buffalonians. But Polizzi freely admits that while she embraces the challenge, “It is a lot of pressure.”

“I want to make sure that we’re maintaining that standard, the news standard that we’ve always had for ourselves,” she stated. “I want to make sure that we’re maintaining that. I love I a good challenge. So because I was in TV for so long and I’ve been out of radio for so long, diving back in, I really wanted to make sure that we’re on the cutting edge and doing every single thing you possibly can to be the best.”

The station’s commitment to news was tested during the first few weeks of Lisa Polizzi’s tenure. In mid-January, a blizzard hit the surrounding area, dumping more than two feet of snow on the metro overnight. Due to its location on the shores of Lake Erie and not far from Lake Ontario, Buffalo receives an inordinate amount of Lake Effect Snow. In this instance, more than six feet of snow fell in a five-day period.

New to the WBEN team, Lisa Polizzi could have toughed out the storm from her home thanks to the advancements in technology. Instead, she and her dog made the trek into the Audacy studios on the north end of town not only to help provide coverage to her community but to get a first-hand look at the operation.

After spending the night at the station for a few days watching how producers and on-air hosts interacted, she liked what she saw.

“I wanted to be in the thick of it. I wanted to get back into news coverage and go into breaking news mode … I think people were a little nervous. ‘Oh gosh, she walking in and she’s already covering a storm.’ But I’m glad that’s my skill set. I thought it was great,” Polizzi shared. “I got to learn the producers and what their strengths were. They’re a great team. They’re super strong. I was really impressed with them.

“People wanted to be here. They wanted to work. They wanted to be on the air to get the information out. And when we say ‘breaking news mode’, everybody knows exactly what that means … just seeing that right as I walked in the door was amazing for me. I knew I was gonna like it, but I really love it here. That really made a big difference, having people love what they do, being around people that love what they do, and that work hard. They wanted to give the information to the people. It makes a big difference.”

In her new role, Lisa Polizzi shared she was surprised by the sheer amount of feedback she receives about the station, it’s talk hosts, it’s news coverage, and what listeners want and expect from the heritage brand.

And while it would be easy to be worn day the near-constant state of others telling her about what she’s doing right and what she could be doing better, Polizzi says she takes the opposite mindset.

“I don’t ever think of it as a negative. I think if people took the time to take the time and care enough to write me and to reach out, they do care about the station. They want to see it succeed,” she said. “They’ve been listening for probably longer than I have, some of them, and so they’re invested. This is their station, they’re invested, and they want their voices heard.

“So I appreciate it and I never think of it as a negative. I don’t agree with everything everybody says and there’s some comments I take under consideration, but I think if people are taking the time to write me, I appreciate what they’re trying to do.”

UEFA Champions League Final Averages 2.32 Million Viewers on CBS

BSM Staff
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UEFA Champions League Final Averages 2.32 Million Viewers on CBS

Real Madrid secured its 15th UEFA Champions League win in team history on Saturday by defeating Borussia Dortmund by a final score of 2-0 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The team secured the championship in dramatic fashion and hoisted the trophy at the end of the contest in jubilation. CBS Sports broadcast the championship game and ended as the third most-watched UEFA Champions League Final in U.S. English-language television history, averaging 2.32 million viewers on the CBS television network.

The game is up 6% from the championship matchup last year between Manchester City and Inter Milan. Moreover, this represents the most-watched club soccer competition on U.S. English-language television since the 2022 iteration of the UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool, which averaged 2.76 million viewers on CBS.

The matchup between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund represents the most-streamed soccer match of all time on Paramount+. In fact, the streaming platform recorded its most-streamed UEFA Champions League season ever as a whole with double-digit year-over-year growth as it pertains to households, minutes and average minute audience (AMA). CBS Sports Golazo Network, which covered the championship matchup, also attained its most-streamed day of the year on Saturday. The championship game was the most-watched afternoon event of the weekend and is also the most-watched UEFA Champions League Final ever on U.S. English-language television that did not include a club from England.

Nashville was the top metered marketplace for the game in the United States, finishing ahead of Boston (Manchester) and a three-way third-place tie between Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Dayton, and Hartford-New Haven. CBS Sports has been broadcasting UEFA Champions League games since the 2019-20 season and reached a deal with the league two years ago to broadcast UCL Finals games through the 2029-30 season, with games also available to stream on Paramount+. Soccer on CBS Sports also includes broadcasts of the UEFA Super Cup and Europa League as well and added the United Soccer League in a new media rights deal that runs through the 2027 season.

Ariel Helwani: ‘Fascinating to Watch’ Mainstream Sports Media Cover and Discuss Women’s Sports

BSM Staff
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Throughout the week, several programs have discussed the treatment of Indiana Fever guard and No. 1 overall draft selection Caitlin Clark in the WNBA. Some of the discussions have stirred controversy and led people to call others out for a lack of knowledge in the space. As the league continues to grow, those who have previously discussed the WNBA or women’s sports as a whole are speaking out about the coverage itself and how it can be improved. Ariel Helwani, who hosts The MMA Hour program twice per week, recently outlined how he finds it interesting to watch this coverage and everything surrounding Clark as she became more popular while starring on the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s basketball team.

Helwani, who works for a variety of different entities including MMA Fighting, Spotify and DAZN, drew a comparison between the WNBA and women’s mixed martial arts and boxing in how the sports are covered. He underscored how women athletes are treated no differently than men on the program regardless of how many encompass the lineup at a certain event. Although he understands a perception that the sport of MMA can be viewed in a neanderthal-esque manner, he believes that people have grown up over the years.

“I really think everyone in the sport from the promoters, from the media, from the fans should really be proud of the fact that I think we cover and talk about and treat the women exactly like we do the men,” Helwani said. “I really do feel that way, and it’s wild to see how some people don’t know how to talk to women athletes like that story that came out with the columnist from the IndyStar – they have no idea how to do it, they are uncomfortable, they are awkward, they are weird, and they don’t know how to even talk about it now with all this other drama going on with the WNBA and Caitlin Clark.”

As he continued his remarks, Helwani acknowledged that he is cognizant of people who do not like women’s MMA or women’s boxing. Even so, he is still proud of those who are involved with the sport and covering it for a long time.

“I think there’s a lot to be proud of because I don’t feel like the fighters [or] the athletes are ever uncomfortable or feel like they’re being treated unfairly or covered unfairly or covered differently,” Helwani said. “That’s not a story; that’s not a thing, and you see it happening now with basketball and other sports. It’s very much a thing, and it’s kind of eye-opening; it’s like, ‘Wow, you guys have no idea how to do this correctly.’”

Helwani expressed that people do not seem to know the correct descriptions, characterizations or talking points as it pertains to this space. Covering women athletes has been part of the norm within MMA for several years, and he does not treat them differently. With Clark and the WNBA, she has already faced several instances of people failing to exhibit professionalism or proper decorum. This has resulted in subsequent apologies and discipline in a variety of manners, including suspending Gregg Doyle of The Indianapolis Star and not allowing him to cover Fever games in person.

“It’s all very fascinating to watch unfold because I feel like it’s so not a thing over here in this little corner of the sports world,” Helwani said. “I hope I’m expressing that correctly and verbalizing that the right way because you don’t really see that type of stuff over here.”

Draymond Green Tells Skip Bayless, ‘I’m Not Coming on Your Show’

BSM Staff
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Draymond Green Tells Skip Bayless, ‘I’m Not Coming on Your Show’

The verbal sparring between NBA player, analyst and podcaster Draymond Green and FOX Sports’ Skip Bayless has added another layer. For the uninitiated, Draymond called Skip a “hater,” Skip called Draymond “the dirtiest player in NBA history,” and now Draymond ended his most recent episode of The Draymond Green Show with a rant about Bayless.

“Everybody’s skipping past Skip Bayless since Shannon left him and he comes out and says he’ll have me eating out of the palm of his hands,” Green said “I am not coming on your show, Skip. I’m gonna keep skipping past you just like everyone else skipped on you, because that show is dead, nobody wants to hear you talk anymore. In the words of Richard Sherman, ‘I am better than you. I am better than you at life, I am just better at you.'”

Green goes on to show his rings and awards he has around him and ends the show by saying, “Yeah Skip, we don’t respect you, you need more people.”

Bayless had said he wanted Green to come on his show and talk about why he called him a hater, which was in response to something he had said about LeBron James. “Draymond can come right here on this show…he can have as much time as he wants to make all of his cases against me, but I will respond. Thats why Draymond will never join me on this show, he knows what would happen to him. I know too much and I’m not afraid to say it. He knows I would chew him up and spit him right out for all to see.”

Bayless also said, “In my career, I have never seen anything like this phenomenon. Draymond Green is, no exaggeration, the dirtiest player in NBA history by far. I dare you to go on YouTube, call up and watch those low-light tapes of the cavalcade of Draymond Green’s dirtiest plays over the years … the cheap shots, the low blows, the dangerous plays. Draymond is the all-time cheap-shot artist. … Since he entered the league, Draymond Green has been ejected a league-high 20 times. He’s been called for technical fouls 151 times. That’s barely second to Russell Westbrook at 153.”

Peter Doocy to Host FOX Nation Series on 2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting

BNM Staff
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Peter Doocy to Host FOX Nation Series on 2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting

FOX Nation has unveiled plans to debut a documentary series hosted by Peter Doocy on the 2017 Congressional Baseball Shooting as it approaches its seventh anniversary.

Strike Zone: The Congressional Baseball Shooting will debut in its entirety on Tuesday, June 11th on the streaming platform.

It will chronicle the June 14, 2017 event when more than 70 rounds were fired at Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and other Capitol Hill staffers during a practice in preparation for the annual Congressional baseball game.

The three-part FOX Nation series will be hosted by Doocy, who covered the events as they transpired in 2017.

“I covered this shooting at the time, and have kept up with the headlines in the years since. Standing at second base next to Majority Leader Scalise and hearing his firsthand re-telling of the story that changed his life forever, was one of the most moving experiences of my career,” Doocy remarked. “There were many heroes on June 14, 2017, and I am honored to be able to help share their stories.”

Megyn Kelly: I Don’t Hate All Women, Just My Critics

BNM Staff
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Megyn Kelly has never been shy about stating her opinions, no matter the topic. That often makes her the subject of criticism, but she says she has the same hate towards her detractors as they have towards her.

While speaking with Dave Rubin on her SiriusXM show, Kelly noted the recent layoffs at Media Matters warmed her heart due to the negative coverage the outlet had continually featured about her.

She noted that one of the quips often lobbied against her was that she hates women. Megyn Kelly defended herself from those accusations.

“Those leftists are always saying I have ‘internalized misogyny.’ Whenever I criticize a woman, it’s my ‘internalized misogyny’ working,” said Kelly. “I don’t hate all women. Just quite a few in left-wing media. It’s wonderful to see Media Matters for America go down and see their people get fired. I hope they never work in ‘media’ again, not that what they were doing was media.”

Late last month, Media Matters laid off at least 12 staffers as part of cost-cutting measures. Kelly isn’t the only conservative media member to champion the job losses. The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles shared similar sentiments on his show.

Jason McCourty Reportedly Leaving ‘Good Morning Football’

BSM Staff
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Jason McCourty Reportedly Leaving ‘Good Morning Football’

The National Football League is moving its popular morning program, Good Morning Football, to Los Angeles next season and adding an extension series to be syndicated by Fox television stations in the process. While host Jamie Erdahl and analyst Kyle Brandt have confirmed that they will be remaining with the show despite its move from New York City, the future of the rest of the cast remained unclear. Jason McCourty, who joined the program in 2021, will reportedly be leaving the show because of the cross-country move, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. 

Outside of his work with NFL Network, McCourty also calls football games at the NFL and college level for CBS Sports and Westwood One. NFL Network’s Good Morning Football program has not been on the air since the end of March and is currently scheduled to make its return towards the end of August with a two-hour NFL Network show and additional two hours of syndication.

NFL executives are reportedly trying to determine how to go about replacing McCourty, reportedly considering former NFL players Manti Te’o and Akbar Gbajabiamila for the role. Te’o, a former NFL linebacker, took part in a recent NFL Media boot camp and has not played in the league since 2020. Gbajabiamila played four seasons in the NFL as a defensive end and has appeared on various television programs over the years, including The Talk on CBS and American Ninja Warrior on NBC.

Over the last several months, NFL Network has endured changes to its roster of personnel and programming lineup, which includes letting go of analyst Michael Irvin and canceling NFL Total Access. The league-owned entity will continue televising select NFL matchups next year, including broadcasting five of the six games played internationally.

Peter Schrager was part of the original cast of Good Morning Football when it launched in 2016 and gave a farewell to the show on his last day in the New York City studios. The arrangement for Schrager, who also works as an NFL insider and reporter for FOX Sports, is still being determined, according to the report from The Athletic.

Fred Toucher: Seems Like JJ Redick ‘Should Bow Out’ of NBA Finals Broadcast

BSM Staff
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Fred Toucher: Seems Like JJ Redick ‘Should Bow Out’ of NBA Finals Broadcast

The NBA Finals are set to begin on Thursday between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks as both franchises try to add another league championship to their legacies. ESPN will broadcast the games on ABC with its lead announcing team of Mike Breen, Doris Burke, JJ Redick and Lisa Salters, the first time this combination will call the championship series. Yet a report on Tuesday from Shams Charania of The Athletic identified the Los Angeles Lakers “zeroing in” on Redick to be the next head coach of the team, portending a third change of the NBA on ESPN lead broadcasting team in two seasons. Fred Toucher provided his opinion on the situation surrounding Redick and The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ABC) on Wednesday’s edition of Toucher & Hardy on 98.5 The Sports Hub.

Toucher believes that the NBA Finals series will end up attaining high ratings so long as it is not harmed by the week between the conclusion of the last round. Last year, the NBA Finals on ABC between the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat averaged 11.64 million viewers, which was part of a five-year ratings high for the NBA Playoffs as a whole. There is part of the situation, he asserted, that would be most beneficial if Redick were to forsake his position entirely.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if JJ Redick offered to not do the games,” Toucher said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he said like, ‘Look, I’m not going to be able to say anything.’ Wouldn’t you? If the Lakers job was done and you knew you were taking it as soon as the Finals were over and you knew that you had a job that forced you to be critical of players that you could be coaching against or be coaching, wouldn’t you try to back out of that?”

Update anchor Jon Wallach articulated that he would continue with the plan to broadcast the NBA Finals because of the money he is being paid by the network. Toucher replied by stating that this could, in turn, have enduring effects that impact his ability to perform in a head coaching position with the Lakers.

“If you plan on being there for 10 years, right, a huge component of that new job is making it enticing for players who are not currently there to come there and play, so you can’t say anything bad about anybody,” co-host Rob “Hardy” Poole explained. “You don’t know who you might want three years down the road [or] who’s friends with who.”

Wallach added that he does not anticipate Redick being a member of the Lakers’ coaching staff in three years, linking his time to that of James. Outside of his work with ESPN, Redick owns and operates ThreeFourTwo Productions, through which he hosts both The Old Man and the Three podcast with Tommy Alter and the Mind the Game podcast with LeBron James. The podcast with James started in mid-March, and it has led some people to classify it as an extended coaching interview with the team and part of the reason he seems poised to land the job with no NBA coaching experience. At the same time, James is able to opt out of his contract with the Lakers and become a free agent, rendering it unknown whether or not he will be back next season.

“JJ Redick is getting this job because he co-hosted a podcast with LeBron James,” Wallach said. “That’s why he’s getting this job.”

Redick appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub last week to discuss the NBA Finals with afternoon drive hosts Mike Felger and Tony Massarotti. At one point in the interview, Redick classified a point Felger made about being outworked in the NBA as an “asinine way” to talk about the league. Later in the show, Felger articulated that Redick did not seem interested in answering any questions and might have been being careful in what he said.

“It might be historic how bad he is,” Toucher said of Redick. “For all of you who took his side in the Felger & Mazz thing, you’re idiots. You’re really idiots, and you’re just searching for a way to hate on Felger & Mazz. He came on and said nothing.”

Poole stated that most people do not have a concern with doing their job on the way out for an employer when they are no longer going to be paid by the entity. As a result, he was wondering if Redick even cared about appearing on 98.5 The Sports Hub and talking about the impending matchup he will call for the first time.

“Look, if I loved basketball the way that JJ Redick probably loves basketball and wanted to be involved in the NBA for the rest of my life, I would be much more concerned about I wouldn’t want the open mic in front of me,” Toucher said. “Maybe he’s far more disciplined than me, but I wouldn’t want an open mic in front of me because I might just have a gut reaction to something and then I would be beating myself up after the game about how bad a job I did.”

With the report that the Lakers are focusing on Redick to be the next head coach of the organization, Toucher believes that his presence will ultimately cheapen the broadcast. The reason for him making this claim is because Redick could have a rooting interest in the game related to a potential future endeavor as a head coach.

“All of it seems bad – it just seems bad,” Toucher said. “It seems like he should bow out. There’s got to be someone else who can do it.”

Podcast Audience Sizes Continually Underreported, New Study Suggests

BNM Staff
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Podcast Audience Sizes Continually Underreported, New Study Suggests

Podcasts continue to see an influx in popularity in the United States. But, according to a new study from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, the podcast audience may actually be larger than originally thought.

According to a survey of 600 weekly podcast listeners, 14% say they “frequently” listen to shows with other people, whether that be friends, family, or children.

“Podcast selling estimates never contemplated ad exposures by multiple people to the same show,” said Cumulus Chief Insights Officer Pierre Bouvard. “The podcast industry is leaving ‘ears on the table.’”

That co-listening group is made up of listeners who consume kids/family podcasts (31%) or podcasts in the “re-watch” genre, featuring the casts of popular TV shows discussing behind-the-scene stories from the programs (26%).

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