ESPN has announced that the network set another record on Friday night during the Final Four within the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament, attaining an average of 14.2 million viewers for its broadcast of the matchup between the UConn Huskies and Iowa Hawkeyes. Data from Nielsen Fast Nationals revealed that the game became the most-watched women’s college basketball game on record and peaked at 17 million viewers. Moreover, the broadcast marked the largest audience for any basketball game on record ever televised by ESPN.
The showdown between star guards Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark came down to the final moments and ended in a 71-69 victory for the Hawkeyes, sending the team to its second consecutive National Championship Game in program history. The game accounted for the most-viewed college event in the history of ESPN+ and was also the second-best non-football telecast ever on ESPN.
In terms of average viewership, the game surpassed Iowa’s matchup against LSU, a rematch of last year’s National Championship Game, which averaged 12.3 million viewers and peaked at 16.1 million viewers. As a whole, ESPN’s coverage of the Elite Eight averaged 6.2 million viewers and finished as the most-watched edition of the round on record. This year’s four-game slate accounted for four of the five most-watched Elite Eight games on record and was up 184% year-over-year.
The earlier Final Four game between NC State and South Carolina averaged 7.1 million viewers and peaked at 9 million viewers. The game is the third-best women’s national semifinal audience on record. ESPN’s coverage of the Final Four marked the most-viewed women’s national semifinals on record, garnering an average of 10.8 million viewers, which is up 138% year-over-year. Furthermore, both games averaged 3.1 million viewers within the P18-49 demographic, an increase of more than 130% year-over-year.
Coverage of the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament National Championship Game begins on ABC at 2 p.m. EST with Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Chiney Ogwumike, Carolyn Peck and Aliyah Boston, also streaming on ESPN+ and broadcast on ESPN3. The National Championship Game commences at 3 p.m. EST on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3, and will feature play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco, color commentator Rebecca Lobo and reporter Holly Rowe on the call.
ESPN will televise The Bird & Taurasi Show featuring WNBA legends Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi that will also be available to watch on ESPN+. Other megacast feeds exclusively on ESPN+ includes Beyond the Rim and On the Rail camera views that provide viewers with a different perspective of the game. ESPN will utilize 43 cameras while in Cleveland, 32 of which are dedicated to the game, in addition to a skycam, outdoor drone and railcam.
On Thursday’s edition of Freddie and Harry on ESPN Radio, the program played praised music amid its discussion about sports to demonstrate gratitude. Later in the show, the program received a call from a listener who wanted to show his appreciation to co-hosts Freddie Coleman and Harry Douglas for what they do on the weekday national show.
“I love the show,” caller Scott in Illinois said. “I love listening to you guys and wanted to thank you guys for what you do because I drive a truck locally and you guys are always upbeat and funny, and then you guys were playing praise music today and it just reminds me of how awesome my God is, and it kicks me out of depression sometimes. Yeah, I just want to thank you for that.”
Coleman replied by validating his story and offered him an invitation to keep up with the show any time he wants. The call also underscored part of the responsibility he and Douglas hold in contributing to the sports radio medium and the relationship they have crafted with the audience.
“Your story is fine because like we always say, if we can get you to your destination safely mentally, physically and spiritually, then Scott we’re doing our jobs,” Coleman expressed. “So if we’re able to make sure you can get through your day, believe me, the words you just said to me and Harry mean so much to us.”
Coleman and Douglas were paired together as part of the new ESPN Radio weekday lineup that was revealed last September, which included several new shows across various dayparts. Since they have been working together, they have taken various calls from listeners who acknowledge how the Freddie and Harry show on ESPN Radio has helped them through difficult times. Douglas agreed with the points Coleman made and recapitulated that having that impact is one of the reasons they work on sports radio. Within his response, he revealed news surrounding the program and a new weekly endeavor it is going to begin.
“We’re going to play this praise music because there are a lot of people in the world that may be going through things that need that upbeat in their life,” Douglas said, “and that’s something we’re going to do every Thursday now.”
“We’re going to make it praise Thursday each and every Thursday because any time we can find a way to uplift people – you don’t have to like what we do; you don’t have to like what we say – we’re always about trying to make sure we bring the positive,” Coleman added. “We’re going to have our strong opinions [and] we’re going to be who we are. Harry’s going to be him; Freddie’s going to be him; there’s no doubt about that, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find any kind of praise; you can’t find any kind of ways to be uplifted no matter what you’re going through at each and every given time.”
A total solar eclipse will be visible throughout North America on Monday, April 8, a scientific phenomenon that occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun. As a result, people will be unable to see the Sun for a short time, during which it will be completely dark outside. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimates that 31.6 million people will be able to see this eclipse without leaving their locale. With the path of totality passing just outside of Columbus, Ohio, 97.1 The Fan is going to utilize the rare event with a live broadcast.
Monday’s edition of Common Man & T-Bone from 3 to 6 p.m. EST will take place outside of the studios where they will witness the event in real time. The solar eclipse is expected to be at its maximum intensity at approximately 3:12 p.m. EST in Columbus, Ohio when 99% of the Sun will be obscured by the Moon. The station created a promo where co-hosts Mike Ricordati and Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith were preparing for the solar eclipse by going into a completely dark bathroom. Earlier in the year, the station also broadcast a special edition of the show to commemorate Leap Day with Ricordati and Smith hosting “a show that’s not a show.”
Listeners can tune into the show live on Monday, April 8 on 97.1 The Fan beginning at 3 p.m. EST, just minutes before the solar eclipse envelopes Columbus in its totality. The solar eclipse itself is expected to last for two hours and 31 minutes starting at 1:55 p.m. EST. When it reaches its maximum capacity, the Moon will look enshrouded by a halo, which is the corona of the Sun shining through. The astronomical event has a broad path of totality and will be in view for more people than the solar eclipse before or after.
WCHS is one of the biggest and most-listened to radio stations in West Virginia. Unfortunately, one way for listeners to tune in isn’t currently available after a storm knocked down its AM tower earlier this week.
Due to strong storms, which included 90 mph winds on Wednesday, a pair of radio towers fell at the site. Also impacted was sister station WSWW, an ESPN Radio affiliate in the market.
After the damage was discovered, both stations were able to resume operations, without their AM towers, with the fate of the site undetermined as of Friday.
“Great news! We’re pleased to inform you that all our air signals – 104.5 FM, 96.5 FM, and now 580-AM – are operational and broadcasting. Our engineering team has worked tirelessly to ensure our return to the airwaves, and we’re excited to be back,” the station wrote in a social media post.
“We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your patience and support during our recent outage. It’s our privilege to serve you, and we look forward to continuing to bring you the quality news, sports, and entertainment you love.”
A local TV station captured aerial pictures of the downed tower.
Here's a look from above at the aftermath of our tower collapse at the @580WCHS tower site on the ridge outside St. Albans. Tip of the cap to @wchs8fox11 their Drone Ranger for the pictures. pic.twitter.com/IkQPxwFCao
There is a motto that exists in the family of Seattle-based sports broadcaster Jason Puckett, one that encourages individual growth. Puckett frequently advises his children, “You do you,” meaning that they should not worry about what other people are doing or saying. Instead, it is pursuant on them to try and catalyze their own path.
Yet as the media industry endures changes and evolves into the digital age, this may be perceived as old fashioned. Opportunities for aspiring professionals are evidently becoming more difficult to discover, in part because of burgeoning technology, cost-cutting initiatives and optimization of core business practices. Puckett, however, holds true to this way of thinking despite the fact that others may be quick to classify it as irresponsible.
He recently came to a realization that he was not embodying this logic, part of what contributed to his decision to leave Sports Radio 93.3 KJR after working at the brand for over two decades. It was not the only factor though within the cascading series of events that ultimately led Puckett to transform what had merely been a hypothetical thought amid the global pandemic into a reality with growth potential and long-term strategy.
“People were barely doing it back then about four or five years ago, but some people were and I just kind of thought about whether it would work,” Puckett said. “‘What would it take to work? What kind of following would you have to have? How would it look? What would the style of the show be?,’ and so I just kind of filed it back then and had off and on just kind of thought about it, but nothing pressing until probably the last few months.”
Puckett had started contract negotiations with iHeartMedia to remain at KJR in December 2023 ahead of the official expiration of his deal on Jan. 22, 2024. The two sides were unable to come to an agreement by that date, but Puckett ultimately did sign short-term extensions to ensure he could remain on the air through their discussions. Through both of those deals though, there were still several impediments resulting in further delay, one of which Puckett said was waiting for approval. Nonetheless, he remained optimistic that an agreement could ultimately be attained so he could continue co-hosting the Puck & Jim Show in the midday timeslot.
“We just agreed to a paid vacation,” Puckett said. “I would just be off the air for a few days, we hoped, and then I would come back fairly soon, but what turned into just a paid vacation for two days turned into almost two weeks.”
Although Puckett was originally hired by Sports Radio 93.3 KJR as a reporter for its Baseball’s Best Postgame Show, he made the transition to radio hosting after approximately four years. The experience he garnered interviewing members of the Seattle Mariners and reporting on the team from then-named Safeco Field precipitated his move to the air where he began to work with Ian Furness. Since joining the hosting lineup, Puckett has worked with several different partners, including Chuck Powell, Cliff Avril, Matt Mikolas and Mike Gastineau, seamlessly blending information and entertainment on these programs. While he enjoyed his time with his colleagues, the opportunity to host with Jim Moore represented somewhat of a full-circle moment.
When Puckett was in high school, he made time to read Moore’s columns, titled ‘The Go 2 Guy,’ in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. No matter if he received a newspaper before or after his classes, it would always be the first editorial he would read. The column was appointment viewing and fostered an affinity to Moore, turning into an eventual friendship when Puckett moved to Seattle. Moore had assimilated into sports radio and was laid off from his job at 710 ESPN Seattle after a decade, leading Puckett to start having him on his show as a weekly guest.
“For a few months, he would just come on every Friday and we would just have a blast,” Puckett said. “It was about 20 minutes, and hardly any of it was about sports. It was just about his adventures and watching his kids play baseball and all that kind of stuff.”
Shortly thereafter, Puckett began to advocate to station management that KJR should hire Moore as his co-host on the air. The outlet obliged to his aspirations and decided to hire him, giving them the chance to work together in middays for parts of the last three years. When they were on the air together, Puckett evinced that the show had a unique tenor and was an ostensibly different sound on the air.
“Our joke was, ‘It was the show about nothing,’ kind of stealing the line from Seinfeld. [Moore] was so easygoing and had such a good nature to him and a great sense of humor [that] just made it easy to work together because we thought the same and we looked at sports and life the same and had the same kind of sense of humor.”
Did Kyle Shanahan get in his own way yet again in the Super Bowl versus the Chiefs? .@PuckKJR & @cougsgo agree that something goes awry in the big moment:
No matter his colleague on the air though, Puckett always sought to convey authenticity to his audience. Evidently so, he did not want to be perceived as someone who would craft his opinions ahead of time or as a radio host who was fabricating his true persona. Contrarily, he sought to foster an environment with laughter and humor that would ultimately bring a sense of levity to the listeners.
The paid vacation Puckett had agreed to amid contract negotiations looked to finally have an end in sight when the two sides were able to come to a resolution. After several delays and close calls, he was poised to sign a deal that would have brought him back on the air with the understanding that he would continue hosting middays with Moore. Everything changed, however, when iHeartMedia conducted a round of layoffs the very next day that impacted Moore. The situation caught Puckett by surprise, especially since he had entered contract negotiations with the understanding that Moore would remain on the air through the end of the year.
“I tried to see if we could get his job back [and] tried to understand why that decision was made,” Puckett said. “[I] was told the decision was made above the local level; it was made at the national level, so when it’s made at the national level, there’s really no one for me to talk to.”
One of the alternative outcomes that Puckett proffered was to let Moore remain on the air through his severance pay so the program would have more time to deliver its farewell. Moreover, he broached the idea that they could phrase it as a retirement rather than his being laid off. Management ultimately did not pursue this route though, something Puckett assumed was not possible because of legal issues surrounding the fact that they terminated his employment.
Resulting in his feeling frustrated, Puckett began to consider his future with the outlet and whether or not he was making the right decision. It resulted in many sleepless nights and extensive thought about what was the best next step for him to take.
“I personally just did not like how the situation unfolded and was presented to me,” Puckett said, “and I know that a different decision would have happened at the local level if they truly could have made the call, but the national level has their decisions.”
Puckett explained that he did not want to return to the air and tell listeners that he had agreed to a new contract after being off the air for three weeks while his partner was terminated because of nationwide staff cuts made by iHeartMedia. The entire situation, he feared, would be exacerbated by speculation from listeners about the negotiating process and purported animosity between him and his colleagues. Despite Moore himself telling Puckett to sign the new contract and remain at the station, he remained true to his moral compass and decided that his days were through at KJR as well.
“I think there would have always [been] this thought and my narrative that in order for me to get my contract, my partner had to be fired so I could get paid,” Puckett articulated, “and I just ultimately said to myself that I couldn’t let that be the narrative and I didn’t want it to be the narrative, so that’s what ultimately led to my decision to walk away.”
Once Puckett officially made his decision, he posted a statement on social media and shared that he was unable to continue doing the show in good conscience and would miss communicating with the listeners. After several weeks of calculated silence, he felt that it was necessary for the listeners to hear what was going on firsthand so they would not be confused as to how things occurred.
“I just thought it was important for the people that follow me and people who supported me and listened to me that they got a chance to hear it from me because we never get a chance to say goodbye on the radio, and hardly we ever get a chance to kind of tell our side of the story,” Puckett said, “and I just thought it was, you know, I have a real personal relationship with the listeners, and I just felt that they deserve the right to know.”
First off I want to apologize for being off the air for the last three weeks. These last few weeks have been the most exhausting and agonizing time of my life. I had been in contract negotiations with iHeart – KJR since the start of January and in the last few weeks we mutually…
While it was an unfortunate predicament, Puckett had an idea of what he wanted to do with his career. During the initial stages of the pandemic, he was apprehensive about those on the midday show potentially losing their jobs. Recognizing how he cherishes being able to blend sports and entertainment and did not want that to go away, he came up with the idea of starting his own digital platform with sports commentary and content. A few years later, Puck Sports became a reality and is rapidly growing its presence online.
At the moment, Puckett is recording a “Daily Puck Drop” and other content that is released both in audio and video form. Jim Moore is not currently permitted to appear on the program while receiving severance, with Puckett explaining that iHeartMedia defines his venture as competition. He is hopeful that concludes in July and anticipates Moore being part of the endeavor down the road. Incorporating the video component and preparing for a daily live element on Puck Sports, he believes he will be able to resemble how the midday program looked and felt on KJR.
“There’s a certain type of energy and juice you get from going on the air on whether it’s live radio [or] live TV that I think is unmatched, and it’s hard to replicate when you just record something because it’s a performance art,” Puckett said. “That’s not unlike someone doing a Broadway show every single night. You’ve got a new audience – sometimes it’s the same – but you’re out there and you may make a mistake and there’s no edit button.”
https://youtu.be/WkainL0VxSU
Over the last several years, Puckett has evinced a growing dissent between national companies and local outlets in terms of appealing to the audience and content creation. Deciding to add video to Puck Sports was borne out of adapting to the digital content landscape and granting advertisers another medium with which to display their companies, products and other messaging. Puckett earnestly values the loyalty his guests and advertisers have demonstrated to him and received further confirmation of his professional worth as a host in the meetings that ensued.
“They all said this independently that, ‘We trust you. We’re here because of you, not necessarily who you work for,’” Puckett said, “and that was a message that when I heard was [one that] made me feel extremely confident that I was going to make because they were buying into me and not exactly the umbrella that I was under.”
As Puckett seeks to build Puck Sports over the coming years, he envisions other people in the broadcasting industry joining the venture and creating several program offerings. For example, Puck Sports recently added Seahawks Draft Blog writer Rob Staton, and he will host his own weekly show.
Although he never wants to forsake it entirely, Puckett does not see himself ever returning to traditional radio. Instead, he is committing his time and energy to constructing a new destination for consumers to find locally-focused sports content in the Emerald City. Puckett is energized and motivated to follow through on his idea of assembling Puck Sports, and will still always promise to be better.
“I like the creativity and the challenge of working for myself and not having to answer to anyone anymore, and I just think it’s the way of the future media, and I like the flexibility that I now have, and it has reenergized me [with] the creative juice that probably has been missing for a bit that has [been] rekindled,” Puckett said. “And I think now that I briefly have had a taste of it, I just don’t think going back and working for someone who I just don’t think from a national perspective has a grasp on what people do locally would be a good decision on my part.”
A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit New Jersey just west of New York City Friday morning. While many in the news media reacted to the news, 710 WOR host Mark Simone was live on the air and said he never felt a thing.
At 10:19 AM, the earthquake struck, with citizens as far as Boston and Baltimore claiming they felt the earth’s movement.
Simone, however, was on the air and never made mention of the earthquake until a caller alerted him to the situation.
At nearly 10:30 AM, a caller from Yonkers — a northern New York suburb — told Simone about the quake.
“Wait a minute. You’re in Yonkers and you felt the ground shake? We felt nothing,” Simone said. “iHeart’s really huge. We take up the whole big floor. From the other side, they came in and said they felt the whole building shake. Well, we are on a fault or earthquake line. Why wouldn’t we feel it, though? We’re actually in the middle of the building, where my studio is…well, if only one part of the building shook, it couldn’t have been that bad of a quake.”
After another caller shared a similar story, Simone was flabbergasted that he didn’t feel the quake.
“A lot of these buildings, they actually build the floor so it actually absorbs shock. Wow.”
Mike Lynch, who started in 2022 as the Portland Trail Blazers Radio Network host, posted to his X account saying he has been diagnosed with ALS. Lynch, 34, was given the diagnosis on January 2nd and he confirmed he will not be coming back to the radio.
“Hi everyone, I know it’s been a long time, but sadly I am returning with bad news,” Lynch wrote. “A few months ago, I was diagnosed with ALS. If you are willing and able, I have a GoFundMe below. The full details of the disease and story are there.”
Prior to joining the Trail Blazers network, Lynch had spent 11 years with Portland’s 1080 The Fan.
The GoFundMe was posted by his partner Ashley Kenyon who has two children she says Lynch is a father figure to. A portion of Mike’s story is posted below:
“Prior to the diagnosis, Mike went to Syracuse to study broadcasting in hopes to land his dream career of working for a professional sports team. Mike started his broadcasting journey in Portland, OR in 2011 as a Producer and host with 1080 The Fan, sports radio. He developed a large fan base within the Portland community, during his 11 years working with 1080 The Fan.
Until October 2022 when he finally got the opportunity to achieve his dream job, with the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers as the Radio Network Host. He got the opportunity to complete the ’22-’23 season and was ecstatic for what the future with the Blazers would be like, as he had many ideas he wanted to bring to the future seasons. He received great feedback and was welcomed with open arms to return for the following seasons and extend his contract.
At the start of pre-season in October of ’23, Mike noticed a big change in his ability to project his voice, say words clearly on a consistent basis and was having a hard time walking around the court.
l November ’23 he had to take a leave of absence due to having a difficult time driving, balancing while walking and speaking at the ability he needed to for the radio.
We finally made it to our appointment with the ALS clinic on January 2nd, 2024 and after a few short tests the diagnosis of ALS, our worst nightmare, was confirmed.
Since the diagnosis, Mike had to leave his career with the Blazers, and has been struggling to do the things that he really enjoyed prior to his diagnosis.”
Hi everyone, I know it’s been a long time, but sadly I am returning with bad news.
A few months ago, I was diagnosed with ALS.
If you are willing and able, I have a GoFundMe below. The full details of the disease and story are there.https://t.co/AvZUrYFu8F
This has been really difficult for me, I am devastated and overwhelmed. I appreciate if you reach out, but please be patient as it is hard to respond to everyone and I’m not always ready to talk about it.
NBC News has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently, after the network’s decision to hire — and subsequently fire — former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel. The division’s chief — Cesar Conde — shared his thought process on the decision and the business as a whole in a recent profile.
In an interview with former CNN media reporter Brian Stelter for Fast Company, Conde stated his belief that NBC News has a business interest just as much as it has a journalism interest.
“We’re a business,” he said. “On the other hand, we also have this public trust and public mission that we take extraordinarily seriously.”
“We’re constantly balancing both,” Conde added. “And the reason I say that is because I tell people, if we are not financially sound, we cannot do great journalism.”
Stelter noted that he spoke to Conde before the controversy surrounding McDaniel, but shared that executive’s vision for the network was one of an all-encompassing view of the political sphere.
“Our philosophy is that we want to make sure we have something for everyone,” Conde said.
The women’s Final Four has descended on Cleveland and Anthony Lima of 92.3 The Fan found himself asking a question to the biggest star of the show, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Lima and host Ken Carman talked about a press conference he attended during this morning’s The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima.
“So, Lima got the chance to go talk to Caitlin Clark yesterday,” Carman starts out.
“Well, she needed to be peppered with some real questions from the media, because Kenny it has been softball after softball for Caitlin Clark, who quite honestly, she can handle it, she can handle the hard-hitting questions,” came the witty response from Lima.
Carman asked Lima to set the scene a little bit before they played some of the audio.
“Some people are starting to screw up their questions because they were a little nervous,” Lima said. “I don’t think some of these people asking questions are used to big NBA Finals-like media contingents. And your voice is blasted on these speakers, and everybody is watching. People are streaming from all over the world.”
Lima said he wanted to let those that regularly covered women’s basketball to get to ask their questions and that he would certainly defer to someone such as Associated Press reporter Tom Withers who the hosts compared to Helen Thomas who famously covered ten U.S. presidents at the White House. “He gets all the big questions,” it was said.
Unfortunately for Lima, Withers’ question was similar to the one he had planned to ask and as he was on the other side of the room, he was on-deck to ask the next question.
“…I’m sitting there with a microphone going ‘oh my god, oh my god, she is going over exactly what I was going to ask,'” he said. “And I’m thinking do I hand the mic back to the proctor who is flanking me to the left?”
They then play the audio for their listeners to hear:
“Anthony Lima, 92.3 the Fan here in Cleveland. Obviously, you don’t need anybody’s validation outside of your locker room for what you ladies have been able to accomplish. But piggybacking off of what Tom [Withers] said about LeBron, you had Luka [Doncic], you’ve had celebrities coming out of the woodwork, kind of parachuting in and watching your games. Does it feel differently when you have so many people talking about your sport that you live every single day? And now everybody, including our talk shows and around the country, physically and verbally, talking about your sport on a daily basis over the last month.”
Clark replied, “I think it’s really special. I think it’s cool. This is exactly what we wanted for women’s basketball but also, I feel like it could have been a thing a long time ago. There’s been so many amazing stars in our game and there’s been so many amazing people to support our game. It’s not surprising that everyone is wanting to talk about it right now, but the product has always been there.”
Immediately as the audio finishes, Carman says, “Question timed at 49 seconds…answer timed at 16 seconds.”
“That was edited,” Lima shot back. “She went much longer.”
“It seemed like you were nervous at the beginning of your question, too,” Lima said. “You went a little quick.”
“I thought I had complete command of the room,” Lima said back.
Carman then asked, “Why did you meander about in that question, why couldn’t you just pull a Larry King and get straight to the point?”
And that question set Lima off a bit. “I wanted to make sure that they didn’t think that I was just looking for male validation for their sport,” he said. “…Because you know that’s what an outsider like me, like that Jessica from Meadowlark Media would say, ‘You don’t understand our sport and you think we need the approval of you men who drop on in and think you’re going to watch our sport and dictate how we are going to talk about that sport.'”
Lima was referencing Jessica Smetana, the former Sports Illustrated writer and current contributor to the Dan Le Batard Show.
“In general, I’m seeing some of the conversations happening on ESPN or Fox or whatever,” she said. “It’s disheartening because you now see the way men’s sports is treated a lot of the time, which is like really ignorant, just stupid hot takes,” Smetana complained. “But now it’s happening to women’s players and I think there’s an element of racism, and definitely sexism, that a lot of these shows do not know how to talk about… great, we’re finally talking about women’s sports, but are we doing it very well?”
Getting back to Lima and the interaction with Clark, as Lima explained more about his question, Carman interrupted and said, “Honestly, I kind of stopped listening to you halfway through the question.”
"It's disheartening because you now see the way men's sports is treated a lot of the time, which is ignorant, stupid hot takes, but now it's happening to women's players…we're finally talking about women's sports, but are we doing it very well?" – @jessica_smetana
Salem Media Group has announced a new radio and TV show set to debut later this month.
This Week on The Hill will debut on Saturday, April 13th, and will be hosted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will serve as a regular guest on the program, updating listeners and viewers on the latest happenings on Capitol Hill.
“I look forward to being a frequent guest on Tony’s show. This opportunity to speak directly to the American people about the most important developments in politics, policy, and culture will be important as we chart the path forward for Congress in these historic times,” Johnson said in a statement.
The program will be available on the Salem Radio Network, Salem News Channel, Salem Podcast Network, and also on TownHall.com at 10 AM and 8 PM ET on Saturday and Sundays.
“Salem is honored to kick off this important program with Speaker Johnson as guest host, who has worked tirelessly for conservative values since he took over the Speaker’s position. Tony Perkins, a nationally recognized expert in public policy, will be an excellent co-host, as the show deals with the important topics facing the House and the Speaker’s initiatives in getting his agenda passed,” said Salem Senior Vice President for Spoken Word Phil Boyce.
“I look forward to kicking off this new program with candid conversations with the House Speaker that will take listeners beyond the headlines and soundbites and inform them about what is really happening in our country and what citizens can do to influence the direction of our nation,” added Perkins.
