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Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

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Jason Puckett Launches PuckSports.com

Jason Puckett, who decided to walk away from a contract offer from iHeartMedia’s KJR in Seattle after finding out his partner Jim Moore had been laid off, has launched a new venture – PuckSports.com. ‘Puck’ has a baseball opening day show posted on the Puck Sports YouTube page and also posted an introductory message about his new venture and what led to creating it.

“I wanted to talk to you guys, the listeners out there, the viewers out there, sorry for all of this,” an emotional Puckett said. “Sorry for what has happened and what has taken place. Thank you for all of the comments and the well-wishes and what you have said about myself and Jim.

“It has been a whirlwind of a last few days, for sure and I do want to say that I feel for the people that we used to work with. “I know it’s not easy to go through that, I have been on that side of it many, many times in this industry when someone is let go and you have to sit there and answer all the questions about them and for them…It’s unfortunate and it shouldn’t be that way, but the reality of this business is it’s like that.”

Puckett then told his fans that PuckSports.com and YouTube are where you will be finding his content along with Moore. “I am going to take what I have learned over the years and apply it to a new age of media,” he said and noted this was a direction he had been thinking about for a while.

As for what took place that led to his decision to not sign his contract and talk away, he said, “I just want to take you briefly back to last week. I don’t want to get too much in the weeds, I’m not here to lay any blame or point any fingers at anybody…there’s too many good people that I have worked with that I don’t want to drag into this. It was a process that was at times handled fine, handled perfectly, and at other times it got to a point where it just went on too long. But that’s corporate media and that’s what happens.”

Continuing on Puckett said, “…I had been without a contract since about January…when I was away from the station that was something that we and the station agreed upon…to see if we could get something done and we were all hopeful that we would…I was only supposed to be gone a couple of days…unfortunately as these things sometimes happen, it just went a little bit longer…We received the deal and it was what we wanted, but unfortunately with that news a few hours later came the news from corporate that Jim had lost his job. Obviously there was a mix of emotions with that from me.

“I wrestled with that and the decision and what I would do. It was hard for me to move forward…I couldn’t fight the perception more than anything that I had received a new deal while at the same time, my partner and good friend, guy I love to death, who I grew up reading…it was a hard reality…The loyalty I have, I couldn’t live with myself even though Jim knew what the truth was.”

Puckett said he was aware Moore was planning to step away from the radio show at the end of the year and was looking forward to the nine months they would have left to work with one another. Then, when iHeartMedia made the decision to make Moore a casualty of their latest round of layoffs, Puckett knew he needed to revisit the idea of starting his own venture.

He said, “It has kind of changed my timeline as far as what I wanted to do and where I felt I was at…I am super motivated right now and I can’t wait. I have probably been busier now than I’ve ever been in the last 48 hours.”

Puckett said several of the show’s regular guests would stay with the show and he thanked several sponsors who he said would remain supporters of the show with the new venture. ‘Puck’ noted that starting next week, “…We get underway in full force…I’m going to continue to try and make people laugh and entertain you and talk about sports…and all of the other things you have become accustomed to with this show.”

As he started to wrap up, Puckett said, “I’m jumping into the deep end of the pool and I am going to see if I can swim or sink.”

Dom Giordano: Joe Rogan Needs to Remember He’s an Entertainer And Stay Away From ‘Dangerous’ Topics

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Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has never been afraid to wade into controversial topics or interview less-than-desirable guests on his podcast. 1210 WPHT host Dom Giordano believes it might be time for him to start.

In a recent podcast episode, Rogan claimed he believed Israel’s treatment of citizens in Gaza since the October 7th terrorist attacks from Hamas has bordered on genocide. He sat idly by as a guest equated the situation to that of the Allied Forces bombing of Dresden, Germany during World War II, which killed an estimated 25,000 people.

Rogan claimed the message would be “We’re basically saying genocide is ok as long as we’re doing it.”

After hearing those comments, Dom Giordano admonished Rogan.

“Look, I get Joe Rogan’s prominence, but this is a dangerous area. The guy throwing Dresden — and a lot of listeners might remember that the firebombing of Dresden — the allies took it out. They did. I forget how many people were killed. World War II was not pretty. That, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, but it was exactly the moral thing to do,” said Giordano. “That’s exactly what needed to be done. So we’re not committing genocide here and then blaming the other side.”

Giordano called Rogan a “major, major figure who I think is insane in what he’s saying here and doesn’t have a thumbnail knowledge of anything…he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about here.”

Buck Sexton: NBC News Paying Contract of Ronna McDaniel is Nothing Compared to Megyn Kelly

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NBC News severed its ties to former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel after intense internal backlash. Radio host Buck Sexton says paying out her contract will be a simple one for the network, especially after what it paid to Megyn Kelly.

In 2018, Kelly insinuated it was ok for people to wear blackface as long as they were impersonating a black character. The subsequent backlash led to her departure from NBC News, with the outlet paying her the rest of her contract.

A similar situation unfolded with Ronna McDaniel, who has signed a reported two-year, $600,000 contract with the network to serve as a political analyst after resigning from her role with the Republican National Committee earlier this month.

After her hiring, many at MSNBC and inside the NBC News organization pushed back against the idea of hiring someone who had been intensely critical of the mainstream media, and also touted lies about the validity of the 2020 Presidential election until joining the network as a contributor.

NBC News Chairman Cesar Conde revealed it was his decision to end the relationship with Ronna McDaniel.

“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down. While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it,” he wrote in an internal memo to staffers.

After the news of McDaniel’s departure became official, The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show began the show with the topic, leading Sexton to argue this isn’t the first time NBC News has been in this position.

“They did it. They actually fired the former RNC chair. I think she did one interview. The reports are they’re gonna pay her $300,000 for both of the years of her contract. For NBC, that’s nothing. Remember, NBC had to pay out Megyn Kelly’s contract a while ago at like $70 million or something,” said Buck Sexton. “$600,000 for them is a rounding error. The amount of money these corporate news outlets can put toward stupid decision making — in both of those cases firing talent — is remarkable in and of itself.”

At the time of her exit from NBC News, it was reported Megyn Kelly would receive $30 million from the outlet.

Co-host Clay Travis argued that while listeners of the show may not be big fans of McDaniel, people should be concerned about the treatment of Trump supporters. “They aren’t interested in talking to half the country,” he posited.

Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

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Kirk Minihane: WEEI is “Going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in Afternoons”

As the speculation continues on where Boston sports talker Rich Shertenlieb will end up, one former WEEI host said he has the scoop on what is going to happen. Kirk Minihane, now with Barstool Sports, said, “What I heard was, initially, was they were moving Rich Keefe from nights to middays, moving Adam Jones from afternoons to middays and keeping Fauria there, and moving Andy Gresh to afternoons…But now it appears Rich Shertenlieb is going to do afternoons with Andy Gresh.”

On Wednesday, Boston Globe sports and sports media columnist Chad Finn put out a post on X, saying, “Didn’t think Rich Shertenlieb would end up at WEEI after leaving Sports Hub. I do now, most likely in afternoon drive. Audacy management has been telling people to expect changes.”

Minihane continued commenting on the matter, saying, “It’s going to be Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb in the afternoons, which is going to be so awful. Maybe the two most sensitive c***s in the history of radio. That’s a show we are going to ruin…we haven’t done that in a while, we are going to take that show down…Once that show starts, we are just going to blitz them with phone calls because Gresh can’t handle that.

“What they don’t understand, because they are so dumb, is that…Rich Shertenlieb has no fan base…no fan of [Toucher and Hardy] in the morning is going to be like ‘I’m not going to listen to Felger in the afternoons, I’ll now listen to Andy Gresh and Rich Shertenlieb.’ It’s going to be dreadful.”

Recapping what he has heard the rest of the WEEI lineup will be, Minihane said, “…And then in middays you have Adam Jones, failed afternoons. Rich Keefe who has now failed middays, drivetime, nights and is now going to fail again in middays… and Christian Fauria who has never drawn a rating in his life.”

WEEI has not commented on any of the speculation. BSM will have more as the story unfolds.

Eric Von Haessler: I Have Never, and Will Never, Win a Radio Award

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Eric Von Haessler: I Have Never, and Will Never, Win a Radio Award

95.5 WSB afternoon host Eric Von Haessler has had a long radio career. However, he says his trophy shelf has been, and will forever be, empty.

The deadline to submit applications for the Gabby Awards from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters is coming up, and Von Haessler joked with his team that entering a submission would be an exercise in futility.

“It’s never going to happen. You’re wasting your time. Nothing I have ever done in radio has gotten an award, anywhere. And never will,” Von Haessler said when producer Jared Yamamoto shared that he was being “forced” to submit a clip of the show to be nominated for an award.

“They can go through the motions all they want, but I know me and my career, and my career is nothing,” The Von Haessler Doctrine host continued. “What might happen, something like 15 years after my death, my grandchildren maybe (will see me get inducted).”

He noted that he doesn’t ever believe he’ll be inducted into any Hall of Fame, and said he learned a valuable lesson when he first got to Atlanta.

“I learned my lesson very early on. I was here for two weeks in 1998. And there was an award thing, it doesn’t exist anymore. We had just come to town, and they worked it out to where we would present some award, because we hadn’t been here long enough to do anything. And I watched this person who worked in the same building as that station. And she won like five awards. I had just came into town. I was like ‘Wow, she must be untouchable.’ Then she was fired like two weeks later.

“And that’s the lesson that hit me with just like, man, I was 34 years old. That was a great time to learn the lesson ‘awards don’t mean anything.’ Audience size, audience size, audience size. That’s all that matters. And that’s how I felt.”

It is worth noting that Eric Von Haessler finished in second place — behind KFI AM-640 host Tim Conway Jr. — for BNM’s Top 20 Major Market Afternoon Hosts in 2023.

Joe Scarborough: I Was a Conservative When Women at Fox News ‘Were Still Playing With Their Barbies’

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MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough spent time in Congress as a Republican. Despite his current position on a liberal cable news network, he argues he’s still a conservative and has been one since before his detractors on Fox News knew what the word means.

On Thursday morning, Scarborough called the Fox News hosts criticizing him for his role in the removal of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel from NBC News “little idiots,” adding that he’s not a “left-winger.”

 “First of all, I’ve got a 95% (American Conservative Union) rating. I’m more conservative than any of them. I was part of Congress, and a big part of the reason if anybody was around, they’ll tell you that we balanced the budget for four years in a row for the first time, and the only time in 100 years,” the former Republican Congressman said.

He continued by adding that Liz Cheney, who also has a similar rating from the conservative think-tank was chastised for her failure to support former President Donald Trump.

While speaking with George Conway, Scarborough took a shot at the females from Fox News — without naming names — who have been critical of him in recent days.

“George, you and I were conservatives — and are conservatives — but we were conservatives when some of these women on Fox News who call us liberals were still playing with their Barbies,” Scarborough said confidently.

CBS Sports Host James Brown To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Sports Emmys

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Longtime CBS Sports host James Brown will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 45th Sports Emmys. The awards show announced the news via its X account last night:

Brown is a three-time Sports Emmy winner for his work on CBS’ The NFL Today and previously FOX’s The NFL On FOX, and HBO’s Inside the NFL. Brown’s career spans more than 30 years and includes numerous accolades such as the Pete Rozelle Award from the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Uncommon Award from Tony Dungy.

He was named “Best Studio Host of the Decade” by Sports Illustrated in 2010 and was honored with the 2009 Dick Schaap Memorial Award for Media Excellence. In 1998 he was awarded the Golden Mic Award by the Black Broadcasters Alliance. Brown was elected into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I am incredibly humbled by this award,” Brown said via the Sports Emmys. “I know full well that it’s not as much about me as it is about all the people with whom and for whom I worked over all these years. Thank God for the blessing!”

Sports media came together to honor Brown’s achievement:

Brown and other award recipients will be honored at the Sports Emmys award ceremony in May.

WBT News Director Mark Garrison Defends Conduct During Interview with Karine Jean-Pierre

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WBT News Director Mark Garrison Defends Conduct During Interview with Karine Jean-Pierre

WBT News Director Mark Garrison has been in the spotlight for his recent interview with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. He’s now defending his actions after pushback from the White House.

Garrison conducted a phone interview with Jean-Pierre ahead of President Biden’s visit to North Carolina. During the interview, he asked the Press Secretary if the President has dementia, stating the question was prompted by those who heard he would be speaking with Jean-Pierre.

In her response, she stated “I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question. It is incredibly insulting,” before asking Garrison for his next question. Later in the interview, she said “And with that, Mark, thank you so much. Have an amazing, amazing day,” and ended the call.

The White House alleges that WBT was given seven minutes to speak with Jean-Pierre, and the time was up. It also claims that the station edited in a dial tone for dramatic effect, arguing that its phones do not have dial tones when a call is ended.

Mark Garrison appeared on The Ingraham Angle on Fox News Wednesday to discuss the matter, and defended his actions.

“I knew — as you know, doing interviews through the years — you’re going to get a lot of talking points,” Garrison told Ingraham. “So I thought if I can just ask a couple of questions, maybe we’d make a little news, maybe get a sound bite out of her. I just decided to ask her about all the concern here in North Carolina. Even 45% of Democrats are concerned about Biden’s mental state, so I thought ‘Ok, I brought that up to her.’ She somewhat dismissed that. And then I just said, ‘Ok, well, does he have dementia?’ And I was surprised that she was so offended.”

Garrison added that Jean-Pierre sidestepped the question for a specific reason.

“What she did was take us down a bumpy dirt road, because she went on to say, ‘Well, every year, the White House physician examines the president and puts out a detailed report.’ Well, I went back and looked at all of those detail reports. It talks about his heartburn, it talks about his limp, it talks about his heart, it talks about his stomach, but there’s nothing in those reports about his mental capacity.”

When asked if he altered the audio to add a dial tone for dramatic effect, the WBT anchor shared his displeasure with the insinuation.

“To quote Karine, I’m offended that she would suggest that. We don’t add sound effects to news stories. When she hit the button to disconnect, we got a dial tone. We didn’t add any drama to it.”

He concluded by stating the he aired the unedited interview, despite what the White House claimed.

Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

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Former 670 The Score Host Tommy Williams Has Died

Tommy Williams, who was heard for a decade on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

49th Annual Gracie Awards Winners Announced

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49th Annual Gracie Awards Winners Announced

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation has released the winners of its 49th annual Gracie Awards, with radio, television, and digital media outlets well represented in the honorees.

“As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we honor the remarkable women storytellers whose courage and resilience continue to inspire us. Their stories, strengths, and influence are actively shaping our present and future,” said Alliance for Women in Media Foundation President Becky Brooks. “The impact of women is undeniable, and we look forward to celebrating these powerful contributions and achievements at the upcoming Gracie Awards.”

In the radio sector, several prominent women took home major awards.

CBS News Radio host Allison Keyes was the winner of the Nationally Syndicated Weekend News host radio award. The network’s Jill on Money took the award for best talk show.

ABC News Radio took home the award for Best National Crisis Coverage/Breaking news for its Foreign Crisis Coverage. Network host Michelle Franzen won the award for Outstanding News Anchor.

NPR took home several awards. It won the Public Affairs category with its “Battle of Bamber Bridge” coverage, alongside its breaking news coverage of the “Historica UAW Strike of 2023”, News Feature in conjunction with WBUR, Nationally Syndicated Non-commercial Reporter/Correspondent (Katia Riddle), best nationally syndicated non-commercial series (“On The Ground in Iran” for All Things Considered), and best interview feature (“One Couple’s Fight to Cure ALS” for All Things Considered).

iHeartMedia won the award for best news feature for its “Black, Autistic, and Safe” story.

In local radio, 77 WABC host Rita Cosby took home the award for best Local Radio Interview Feature for her sitdown with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Meanwhile, the station’s Cindy Adams won the award for best Local non-morning drive weekend show for the large/major market category.

Seattle’s KIRO Newsradio won the award for local Hard News Feature for its “Facing Fentanyl” story. It also won the award for Soft News Feature for a report on the work being done for students at Kent-Meridian High School.

Lisa Dent of WGN in Chicago took home the honors for best Non-Morning Drive Talk/Personality Host in a Large/Major Market.

WCBS Newsradio 880 producer Lisa Tschernkowitsch took home the Best Local Radio Producer award for her work on Newsline with Brigitte Quinn.

KCBS in San Francisco won the local radio award for Best Crisis Coverage/Breaking News for its reporting on the wildfires in Maui.

The news television sector was well represented in the awards.

CNN won an award for Best National Hard News feature for its coverage of a Hamas attack at an Israeli Morgue. The network’s Jomana Karadsheh took home the ward for National Reporter/Correspondent.

ABC World News Tonight with David Muir Producer Esther Castillejo won for Best Producer of a National Newscast.

Bloomberg took home the honor for Best National Investigative Feature for its “Run For Your Life” segment during Bloomberg Investigates.

There was crossover from the News Television and Radio worlds in the digital sector, as well.

Audacy Podcasts took home the award for Lifestyle Podcast co-host/ensemble for We Can Do Hard Things, hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle.

Kayla Whitworth of ABC News won the award for best National News Podcast Host for her The King Road Killings podcast.

CNN’s Ladan Anoushfar won the award for best National Online News Producer for the As Equals series.

The winners of the 49th annual Gracie Awards will be celebrated at the foundation’s annual gala on Tuesday, May 21st at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, in Los Angeles.

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