Norm Hitzges, the longtime sports radio host with 96.7/1310 The Ticket in Dallas will receive the 14th annual Literati Award from SMU later this month. The award honors individuals who have used the written word to advance creativity, conviction, innovation and scholarship and who have had a significant impact on culture and the community through their work.
Hitzges hosted the first full-time sports talk show in morning drive time in the country over 30 years ago on KLIF. In 2000, Hitzges moved to Sportsradio 96.7 and 1310 The Ticket. He announced his retirement on Thursday, June 15, 2023, and completed his final show on Friday, June 23.
Norm is the author of four books including the highly acclaimed Greatest Team Ever about the early nineties Dallas Cowboys and Essential Baseball which introduced a revolutionary new method to evaluate players. He has also written a book of poetry.
Norm was the TV analyst for Texas Ranger games for 15 years and for Dallas Mavericks games for 6 years. He also served seven years in various roles with ESPN-TV. In 1986 he became the first person to broadcast the entire NFL draft live.
Hitzges has been honored by the Texas Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Dallas All Sports Association, and the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. Norm also hosts the “Norm-A-Thon”, a yearly day-long marathon broadcast to raise money for the homeless in Dallas-Fort Worth. In 22 years, the event has raised $9 million for Austin Street Center for the Homeless.
Maxwell Schaeffer and Amy Sweet have departed morning drive at 1040 WHO in Des Moines.
The pair began hosting the daypart at the iHeartMedia station in 2021 after the retirement of longtime host Van Harden.
“Our sincere appreciation goes out to every listener who has tuned in to WHO over the years, making it possible for us to build upon the rich tradition of excellent programming that sets us apart from other stations,” Sweet wrote in a social media post announcing her departure, according to Radio Insight.
“We have truly enjoyed connecting with each one of you through various initiatives designed to foster deeper connections within our beloved community. As we move forward into unknown territories, we are filled with anticipation and hope for what lies ahead!”
Schaeffer came to the outlet in 2018 after previously working in music radio for a classic hits station in the Iowa capital. He is a member of the Iowa Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to his morning show on 1040 WHO, Schaeffer also was hosting afternoons at sister station 100.3 The Bus.
Sweet worked alongside Schaeffer in morning drive at 93.3 KIOA for 12 years, until departing in 2020.
Midday host Jeff Angelo helmed the station’s morning show on Monday.
“When I was growing up, my mom always instilled in me that you can do whatever you want to do as long as you don’t give up on it. You can literally do anything in this world. I just don’t take no for an answer. And I took that and I ran with it,” Chief White House Correspondent for OAN, Monica Paige [Luisi], told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
Born and raised in New Jersey Paige says she was raised in a traditional household. “Both my parents are always present. They’re still together. You know, they raised me in a very Catholic, traditional Italian household.”
The encouraging household allowed Paige to figure out early on in life what she wanted to be. “I was maybe about five years old, we would always put ABC7 Eyewitness News on just to watch the traffic, to see what my dad would going to be coming home from work. I remember seeing Liz Cho and being like, ‘I want to be that woman one day.’ I love her. I thought she was so pretty. And I was like this little five-year-old kid. That’s when I knew in my heart this is what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life.”
Her path from Monmouth County to the White House was fraught with friction.
“When I was going through school, I did not get along with many kids. I was always kind of like the odd one out of the group. I never fit in. Girls never really want to be friends with me. I always felt different than everybody else, and I don’t know what that was like that.”
Bullying was a trend that followed Paige through college. However, it never deterred her from her goal of becoming a reporter. “I just learned that maybe I just wasn’t born to fit in, and that was just my purpose on this Earth. So eventually, going through school and stuff, and trying to find my place in this world, I just focused on what I wanted to be when I got older.”
Influenced by Bill O’Riley, Paige attended Marist College. She interned at Entertainment Tonight before getting her first job in the industry.
“Daily Mail was my first job out of college in New York City. I was a video producer for about two and a half years and that was tough. It was just the commuting between Jersey and New York because I was living at home. It was just really tough.”
The round trip three-hour commute was taxing but it became alleviated during the pandemic while Paige was working from home. “Then I was like, ‘This is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. I think I need to start taking action and taking control of my life.’”
Paige added, “I eventually started my own podcast, The MonFather Podcast, and I was doing that from home for a little bit because I needed a creative outlet.”
Paige said of her podcast, “So I was interviewing people who owned local businesses and small businesses and just ‘Tell me your life story.’ And I was sharing a lot of different stories and I really enjoyed that. Then I started going on rants, which was a lot of fun. I loved being able to just express myself and just kind of share with the world my thoughts. Just knowing that there would be other people that feel the same way, even though it’s not a popular opinion.”
She moved on to Newsmax, having personally witnessed her passion for being on air. “It was just not my goal and they were not doing what I wanted to do. I tried to show them what I could do and they weren’t doing it.”
One night during post-show drinks a colleague suggested Paige reach out to One America News Network. “She was like, ‘They gave me a shot. You should do it, too. They would pick you up in a heartbeat. Just send an email. I’ll even follow up and send an email as well.’
“So I sent my resume, I sent a whole email and they got back to me and they were like, you got to fly to San Diego.”
Monica Paige continued on to say, “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I don’t know about this’, but I was like, ‘Honestly, I have to do this. I think I owe it to myself. I’ve worked this hard.’”
In less than 7 years since graduating college, Paige has accomplished what most reporters with decades of experience dream of, but she said it’s all thanks to The Herring Family.
“I’m extremely grateful to The Herrings, completely for giving me this opportunity to pull me out of thin air and take a chance on me because Newsmax didn’t take the chance on me. And that’s okay, I understand it. I do not burn bridges with them. I love them very much. But the Herrings really took that chance on me that I have always wanted and I still cannot believe to this day that I get to do what I do because of them.”
For those looking to follow in her footsteps Paige said this, “If you want something badly enough, you will do it. You will make it happen any way you can if you really, truly want it badly enough. Sometimes, you got to try and open a door for yourself and that’s okay. But, you know, you just can’t take no for an answer.”
She later added, “If you when you if you don’t stop and you keep going. Consistency is key because, eventually, something will click. Something will hit and if you’re passionate about something to the extent that you really are, you’ll make it happen any way you can.”
This week, I will be attending my first BSM Summit. I’d intended to go multiple times in the past and something always seemed to get in the way. Now, working with the team, I get a chance to go and see what all of the hype is about.
I look forward to catching up with those I have met in the past but not seen in awhile. I also look forward to meeting some new people, many whose names are familiar to me. The speakers for the BSM Summit is a who’s who of industry stars and I’m looking forward to their insights. Not just about what is happening now, but also and maybe most importantly, what the plans are for the future.
I think this is a critical time in our industry. Now, more than ever, we need this group together in one place to talk this all out. Many will have the same long and shor-term thoughts on their minds.
If you are in market No. 1 or market No. 120, you are probably dealing with budget concerns, lack of outside marketing, trying to get more out of your local talent, a need for new revenue streams, understanding podcasting, keeping up with the ever-changing worlds of digital and social media, the future of the AM dial, attribution concerns, recruitment challenges, how to incorporate gambling and fantasy sports and more.
I will be hosting two panels and very much looking forward to being on stage with both groups. It will be interesting to see how different they are. I have one group which is made up of Boston and New York Market Managers. The other has leaders from Las Vegas, Columbus and West Palm Beach.
With the larger market group, our BSM Summit session is called “Strictly Business.”
We will look at what gives stations in these markets the best chance for economic growth moving forward. The group will also address where streaming and digital will come in to play with revenue. We will also talk about big changes which have happened or will happen soon. We also hope to get into the pros and cons of play-by-play and live events.
My other BSM Summit session is “Riding the Revenue Train.”
We will look at how the year has started for these stations and whether they are finding themselves moving forward as they suspected they would in 2024 or have they had to pull back due to a rough start to the year. We will also look at the creative process in their buildings and find out where ideas come from, do they schedule creative meetings or do as needed and what role the talent and/or sales departments have in the process. I will also ask the panelists about their concerns and where they see the greatest hope for the future.
I have already written how excited I am to hear Paul Heyman speak. The man has never had a dull thing to say in his life. So, make sure you are in your chair on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m.
To finish up Wednesday, we all get a treat in getting a chance to hear from Stephen A. Smith. We know how well he speaks, but he’s also one of the best people we can hear from now. He is a great example of someone setting themselves up for success both now and in the future.
Stephen A. is at the top of his game, driving ratings, driving revenue, selling books, driving listens in the podcasting space, making news with strong opinions and he is very much planning for his future. He certainly could kick back and enjoy the fruits of his labor if he wanted to. However, he is taking a completely different approach.
You’ll hear a person who is set up in a big way to either get an enormous contract from ESPN and dominate the national television scene or someone who could walk away from the corporate side of things and do what others have done and create something on their own.
I believe we will see a little of both. Reading between the lines, it seems Stephen A. could end up with the best of both worlds. He can get paid a huge sum of money to be one of the stars of the Worldwide Leader. He can also work several things into his contract where he gets the freedom needed to build out his own empire.
All in all, this upcoming week at the BSM Summit is setting up to be something special in New York. As Alicia Keys sang with Jay-Z, “These streets will make you feel brand-new, big lights will inspire you, let’s hear it for New York.”
Rack ’em! Jim Rome had Kevin Harlan as his guest on The Jim Rome Podcast. It was a terrific interview, especially for young broadcasters to listen to. Kevin Harlan is simply one of the best in the business and his resume speaks for itself. He is in the very top echelon of play-by-play announcers.
When Rome asked him if he ever listens back to his broadcasts and critiques himself he said, “Every game. Every single game and I think if you don’t, you are robbing yourself of a chance to improve, personally and individually. I feel that a lot of my career has been based on self-improvement and I like to think I am evolving season to season and year to year and I like that challenge. I like the business of broadcasting and I like the chance to do even better the next game.”
These words should be printed and posted at every broadcasting school in the country.
I also picked this becasue it allows me to tell my Kevin Harlan story.
In the late 80’s I had the great fortune of attending a broadcasting camp put on by local St. Louis sportscaster Art Holliday, who is now the news director at the very same local NBC station (KSDK) where he once roamed the sports office. The camp was incredible, a lot of practical experience plus each day a special guest came in. Drew Goodman was a speaker one day, Bob Costas came in one day and then we had the chance to hear from a young broadcaster who was doing Missouri Tigers and Kansas City Chiefs games, Kevin Harlan.
The day Kevin was in was the day we were going over to University of Missouri-St. Louis’ gym where former NBA player Anthony Bonner hosted a summer league. We had the opportunity to do play-by-play (picture students set up at small tables with headsets all around the sidelines of the court) of some games and each pair would switch-off being the other’s analyst. I had no idea Harlan had come to the gym with us. He went from pair to pair listening to each person do play-by-play.
I got lucky. Right as I took over doing play-by-play, Harlan was standing right behind me. Immediately, one team missed a shot, the other got the rebound and pushed it up the floor with two quick passes. This led to a huge dunk at the other end of the floor. I nailed the call. My partner slapped me on the arm in excitement and I was almost coming out of my chair. I looked up and Kevin Harlan is running to the other side of the gym directly across frome me, he looked right at me and gives me a big smile and a thumbs up! He has no idea what that moment meant to a young, aspiring broadcaster.
You can listen to the full interview by clicking here.
Last week, Demetri Ravanos wrote a column posing a question about a programming change made in New Orleans. Cumulus’ 106.1 FM flipped formats from Nash Icon to FOX Sports Radio, which is distributed by Premiere Networks, which is owned by iHeartMedia. We all know the top properties at national sports networks get major clearance across the country and fill the mid-morning or mid-afternoon slots.
It works in some markets and not in others but if you are positioning it correctly, those shows should drive some revenue. However, if you are flipping on the network and calling that your radio station, without any local programming and marketing, what are you really doing? Nash Icon, FOX Sports Radio or polka music could be playing on that signal and all we know is two things will not be happening – ratings or revenue.
In a few days, we’ll reconvene in New York City for the 2024 BSM Summit. It’s always great seeing friends and familiar faces, but that isn’t what inspires me to build this event. Nor is it the possibility of landing future clients. What motivates me to invest six months of time creating this event is is the opportunity to gather accomplished professionals from all areas of the industry, and share knowledge, ideas and feedback to improve our brands and people.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the way the radio industry has changed over the past decade. A specific area that’s been noticeable is the way executives and programmers promote their brands being multi-platform focused. It makes a lot of sense. Given the rise of social media, streaming, and the consumer’s appetite for visual content, offering our talent and shows in audio, video and print form just makes them more accessible in the places where fans go.
But here are two things that we often forget or overlook.
First, if we’re going to claim to be more than just radio stations, are we built and ready to win larger advertising deals against the best sports media digital brands? If you were a media buyer, would you buy your radio station’s podcasts/social media channels or pods/social influence from Barstool, The Ringer, The Kelce Brothers, The Volume or Meadowlark Media? Which sales teams would you trust to understand and sell digital better? If it’s about maximum reach and return on investment, where would you get the best return for your money?
Secondly, if multi-platform is the focus for building brands, shows, talent, etc., then why are we only using radio ratings to showcase our impact? I understand that there are issues with cross-platform measurement, but challenges with measurement have always existed. What are you doing right now to convince the public, the advertising community and your staff that you’re making a mark across all channels? When marketers see examples like this one below, it makes them want in. Isn’t that something radio should be doing more of?
Too often I hear folks talk about being committed to digital without being able to define what exactly that means. Are you talking about pageviews? Streaming sessions? Social media follower growth and engagement? Podcast downloads and listens? YouTube video views? All of that is digital. Which areas are you focused on? How do you stack up year-to-year or against other brands in the same spaces? Which tactics are you using to reach the goals you set for your team? If you are hitting your goals, is it big enough to make a revenue difference?
We’re operating in a noisy media climate. Being able to showcase our collective results in a way that satisfies advertisers remains difficult. It’s why I believe advertisers are getting better value with audio than ever before. When things get better and the full impact of sports content is presented in a way that everyone trusts more than they do now, many will see that they’ve been undervaluing the sports talk format for way too long.
Until that happens though, it’s imperative to set digital goals and have internal teams focused on hitting them the same way they’ve been pushed to produce ratings and revenue. We should be telling that part of the story too, not just how our quarterly ratings stacked up. At the same time, we need to see things through the lens of the advertiser. Challenge yourself and your people to build and grow brands capable of competing against everyone not just another local sports radio station. If digital is where revenue growth is coming from, why put off what can be done today until tomorrow?
Today, Monday March 11th is your last shot to buy a ticket to the 2024 BSM Summit. If you don’t have confirmation of being on our list to attend the show, either act today or miss out. We are finalizing all badges today and tomorrow, and won’t be selling tickets on the day of the event or the day prior. To make sure you have a seat at the show, visit BSMSummit.com. If you have any last minute questions, email Stephanie at Sales@BarrettSportsMedia.com.
Thumbs Up:
Caitlin Clark: Interest in women’s basketball has soared with Clark playing a huge role. Last week, she led Iowa past Ohio State, a game which delivered the highest ratings for a women’s regular-season hoops contest since 1999. If she continues this run into the NCAA Tournament, many will be watching to see if she can lead the sport to the best ratings its ever produced.
For the record, since ESPN started televising the women’s championship game in 1996, the record high average audience was 5.7 million viewers in 2002. However, Sports Media Watch previously reported that the best total number for a women’s tournament game was in 1992 when the Final Four game between Virginia-Stanford averaged 8.1 million viewers on CBS. The 1995 championship game between UConn and Tennessee averaged 7.4 million viewers on CBS.
Sunday’s Ohio State-Iowa game ft. Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking performance scored 3.39 million viewers on FOX ????Most-watched reg season WCBB game on any net since 1999 ????Most-watched WCBB game in FOX Sports history ????Viewership peaked at 4.42 million viewers from 3-3:14 PM ET pic.twitter.com/GvTtjlmCSd
Daily Aus: I watched an interview two weeks ago on YouTube with CEO Sam Koslowski. He talked about the launch of his brand, its creative content approach to attracting young people, and the revenue growth that has since followed. It was excellent. I then signed up to receive the company’s newsletter, despite having no interest in Australian news. What I learned is that the Daily Aus came up with a slick, creative way to engage people online and in the inbox. I’m glad I found it. It’s amazing how much creativity and knowledge exists in this world.
Holsten’s Ice Cream Parlor: Before you ask, I was a huge Sopranos fan. The final scene in the diner is an all-time classic, and it took place at Holsten’s in Bloomfield, NJ. Last week, owner Chris Carley put the famed booth where Tony last sat up for auction. Carley said the furniture was no longer safe and the restaurant needed a facelift. Knowing that original memorabilia meant something to fans, he hoped to raise 10K from selling the famous furniture. 240 bids later, it generated $82,600. It was an offer Holsten’s couldn’t refuse.
Photo Credit: Will Hart/HBO
Thumbs Down:
NFL Network: The decision to move Good Morning Football to Los Angeles is a head scratcher. The way the network and league fumbled the announcement was even worse. GMFB was enjoying its best run since 2017, up 16% from 2023. Yet a decision was made to move west and put the show on hiatus after March 29th. That means that the month leading up to the NFL Draft, GMFB won’t be on the air.
If that’s not enough to tick you off, the on-air team of Kyle Brandt, Peter Schrager, Jamie Erdahl and Jason McCourty learned of the news shortly before it was made public. The release also didn’t make clear if the crew would remain part of the show. This is how you treat a program that’s gelling and growing audience?
The NFL Network has tried this before. NFL AM didn’t connect the way GMFB did and when the decision was made to switch coasts, NFL Media’s chief content officer Jordan Levin said, “There’s an energy to morning programming. The challenge is compounded when you have people who are literally doing the show in the middle of the night.” Apparently the league learned nothing from that experiment. Here’s hoping they don’t screw up a good show by not thinking things through.
Photo Credit: Good Morning Football
Cam Newton and Shaq: Their conversation was interesting but the discrediting of sports media professionals for not having played the game is tired. What many athletes fail to understand when defaulting to this lame opinion is that their depth beyond the sport they played is often thin. Secondly, they don’t see the world of sports through the eyes of a fan. Third, they tend to hold back when discussing situations they’ve been involved in and people they have history with. We should embrace having multiple perspectives available to viewers and listeners, not knock people for not having played the game.
Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson: I’m sure Netflix will break records with this debacle but I won’t be one of them tuning in. Are we so bored that we’ll watch anything? Mike Tyson is nearing 60 years old. He’s had health problems in recent years. Jake Paul strategically picks opponents he knows will create buzz and set him up to shine. This is all a money grab.
Netflix knows they’ve got two charismatic people involved who understand how to sell drama. I’m sure Paul and Tyson will do their part to create interest. The placement of the fight is smart too, Saturday July 20th at AT&T Stadium following a week of quiet due to the MLB All Star break. From a promotional standpoint, they’ve set it up correctly. I’m just not going to be the sucker wasting money to watch a spectacle.
Maintaining a strong internet connection while on the road can present its challenges, sometimes requiring extra time to ensure the technology is stable with minimal latency ahead of a remote interview. In this instance, baseball digital program Foul Territory was aiming to begin its conversation with New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, but the show needed a few extra minutes to have him on.
To fill the time, the program began discussing a story about Seattle Mariners infielder Eugenio Suárez and how the team had to pinch hit for him because he was using the restroom. The timing of the situation did not work out because the Mariners’ first two hitters made outs on the first pitch of their plate appearances.
Once the interview with Alonso commenced, he revealed that he had faced a similar occurrence early in the season. Because he had mistimed his pregame coffee, Alonso realized that he had to use the restroom in the middle of the first inning; however, he was due up to bat. In an act of desperation, he decided that he would swing at the first pitch of his plate appearance no matter what happened.
Luckily for Alonso, he received a hanging slider that he crushed out of the ballpark for a home run and immediately retreated to the restroom thereafter. The extemporaneous anecdote provided a synergy between the regular segment and the interview, granting viewers insight into the punctuality of a pregame routine. Entering the interview, show host Scott Braun never would have thought to ask the superstar such a question, the answer to which ended up making headlines.
“The flow of just kind of going between what happens naturally, what’s going on in the game and talking to these guys has just led to some cool and really fun moments,” producer Marc Weiner said. “Again, they’re telling stories that they wouldn’t tell anywhere else because they don’t get asked.”
Part of the value proposition of Foul Territory is its ability to connect with players in a different way that creates compelling, engaging content built for baseball fans. Amid proliferation in athlete-driven media and the rapid promulgation of nuanced storytelling, the team aimed to utilize player-to-player conversation to extrapolate unique perspectives.
Operating under the aegis of Make Plays Media, Foul Territory successfully produced 278 total shows within its first year and featured 301 active player guests on the program. Some of the superstars that appeared within the first year include Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts, Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer and Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout among others. Foul Territory has worked to foster a modern iteration of baseball coverage, a foundation Braun and executive producer Marc Weiner gradually established over time.
After spending several years at ESPN, Weiner worked at MLB Network for over a decade as a coordinating producer. Yet he had known Braun as a student matriculating at the University of Miami and discussed how fans needed to hear more from baseball players. The duo quickly recognized an ostensible discrepancy between baseball and other sports such as football and basketball in terms of the breadth of content available for consumers. As a result, they both decided to take action by leaving traditional media and launching their own burgeoning digital venture.
“I think baseball has just as many super interesting, vibrant personalities, and our game has as much daily drama as any other sport, so that was very important to me,” Braun said. “I feel like we’re building what the modern baseball network should look like and, of course, the authenticity factor of what you’re getting with shows like these.”
The program streams weekdays across various digital platforms and is also available to consume as a podcast. Most episodes usually contain no fewer than three guests associated with the sport, who subsequently interact with Braun and his bastion of co-hosts. The Foul Territory roster of co-hosts is comprehensive and accomplished featuring position players recently removed from the game. Infielders Todd Frazier, Jason Kipnis and Brock Holt, along with outfielders Adam Jones and Lorenzo Cain are part of this starting lineup and appear across select episodes.
The two co-hosts who appear most often form the backstop, especially since they were both former catchers during their major-league playing careers. Erik Kratz and A.J. Pierzynski, both of whom were familiar with MLB Network while on the field, have continued to remain involved with the sport despite retiring from playing. Both had inclinations as athletes that media careers could be ideal to pursue, with Pierzynski participating in FOX Sports’ MLB postseason coverage while he was still an active player. Kratz was informed by a radio professional that he might be skilled at the craft, and it ended up being something he thoroughly enjoyed. When Kratz and Pierzynski were broached on joining Foul Territory, they felt ebullient to highlight the national pastime in a new way.
“There was a connection to someone that you don’t ever see,” Kratz explained. “You don’t ever get this kind of content and connection with professional athletes, but football and basketball have done an incredible job of it, and baseball, through our show, I think is giving that access to fans that they want, which is going to bring more fans in because everybody can connect with somebody.”
“There’s no show out there like this – at least there wasn’t,” Pierzynski added. “Now there’s kind of a couple that are trying to kind of catch up I feel like, but there was no show out there that was like what we are doing, meaning yes, there’s other baseball podcasts out there but not player-driven.”
Braun is accustomed to working with a large roster of personalities from his time at MLB Network, during which he hosted a variety of programming throughout the schedule. Despite the extensive legion of co-hosts, Braun feels he has narrowed his cohort down. There is minimal strife in reconvening because of the constant basis of communication instituted by he and his colleagues.
“Everyone here wants to be here and they’re watching games, and it’s like a retirement text group on what they’re seeing for the night, so I’m just glad to be a part of that, but that’s what makes it pretty easy,” Braun said. “I kid you not – every single day year-round, including [in the] offseason, there [are] texts going on about whatever the news is or whatever people catch, so that makes it feel like you’re just continuing the communication that you had that night on the show the next day.”
Most of the time, Braun is hosting the show alongside at least one of his co-hosts and frequently travels to effectuate the in-person chemistry. Additionally, Make Plays Media inked a deal to broadcast live shows from the BetMGM Sportsbook at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J. biweekly on Fridays during last season.
Weiner is responsible for booking the show guests and works with Braun to formulate a production plan that safeguards audience retention and growth. On top of that, the relationships the co-hosts have with active major-leaguers sometimes facilitates booking guests, some of whom share their aspirations to appear on the program.
Braun approaches his hosting akin to a point guard in basketball, yearning to position his teammates for success on every show. Although he did not play baseball at the major-league level, he tries to maintain the sentiments of a clubhouse while remaining aware of the communication and feedback the program is receiving from its fans. The nomenclature of baseball is evinced within the informed confab, levying recondite intel with superficial observation.
“My own opinions are unleashed, so it’s been liberating to just talk and not feel like I have to act,” Braun said, “and sometimes I’m filling in blanks with stats or what I think is a fan or front-office perspective to what the player opinion is out there from our pretty big roster of hosts at this point.”
In operating independent from a league-owned entity, the personalities are able to say whatever they desire. Weiner expressed how the program has closely scrutinized the situation surrounding the Oakland A’s, who currently intend to construct and reside in a new ballpark in Las Vegas, starting with the 2028 season. They have discovered that the content appeals to fans, leading to engagement and interaction off which they are able to advance the conversation.
“My thing also is it’s just rules versus no rules, and I mean that in the best way,” Braun said. “That is a huge win for any sport when you have the talent in your sport talking real or openly about what’s going on with a specific topic, and it’s not one side vs. another side, even though we see that often in our sport with owners and players, but in our case it’s just, ‘What is your real reaction to whatever the top news of the day in the sport is that everyone is talking about?’”
When the show first began, Braun and Weiner needed to explain what the project was to major-league teams and players. The idea was fortunately well received, and they have not been barred from welcoming athletes on to the independent program. The first year of the show featured a total of 794 guests and amassed more than 360 million impressions across social media platforms and YouTube.
“This format doesn’t work at our old shop for all the reasons that we’re talking about, but this format grows the game and publicizes the game in the right way in my mind,” Braun said. “Some of the national sports shows and podcasts that exist are not touching baseball at all, and that’s very different from especially 20 years ago; even 10-ish years ago at this point, so to me, this is a new outlet that brings more coverage to the sport in a way that many of the existing shows can’t do.”
An aspect of the show preparation involves watching baseball and monitoring its news cycle, much of which is synthesized in a production meeting before the program. Once the proceedings begin, Braun and his co-hosts discuss topics and react to news as it happens with a live audience. Throughout spring training, select co-hosts have been making trips to team facilities to observe their process in getting ready for the season and interact with players. Ironically enough, Pierzynski recently traveled to Port St. Lucie, Fla. to host the show from Clover Park, the spring training home of the New York Mets, where the program opened with an interview featuring the aforementioned Alonso.
“‘We’re going to have real conversations about real events and real things that are going on not only in your life, but in the game of baseball in general,’” Pierzynski affirmed he tells players, “and again, it puts them at ease because they know we’re on their side and we’re former players and we know what players like to talk about.”
The preceding interview with Alonso, however, was hardly a standalone or feigned occurrence. Weiner has found that the athletes consume Foul Territory and are often attuned to the discussions, leading them to make unexpected contributions in this regard. Because of this, the guests occasionally contribute to the ongoing conversation rather than being the driver of an entirely new discourse tailored to their lives.
“It does point out that these guys are paying attention to more than their own little world, their team and themselves,” Weiner said. “They’re all really into the game obviously and care about the game, so it brings you opinions and stories from these guys that you wouldn’t get anywhere else.”
The rapport amongst players, both active and retired, assists in enabling the program to foster relationships and present these guests as viewers. Outside of active league personnel, which also includes managers and executives, Foul Territory implements media members such as broadcasters and journalists. Ken Rosenthal, MLB insider for The Athletic and field reporter for FOX Sports, is a regular guest on the show and also hosts his own program, Fair Territory, once per week with Make Plays Media.
Through his guest spots and individual program, Rosenthal has added a digital video component to his media portfolio, something Weiner feels he lost after leaving MLB Network a few years prior. Furthermore, he has discovered that Rosenthal has lended the show added credibility that licenses others the liberty to take the product seriously.
“Everybody knows Ken’s not doing silly stuff,” Weiner said. “Ken is serious; he loves what he’s doing [and] he loves the game, so [it is] huge for him to do that. Certainly as we reached out to other reporters to join us early on, nobody said it, but I am sure it meant a lot for them to know that this is something Ken does, so, ‘Okay, cool, I’m good to go on here and do this.’”
Throughout the show, the hosts converse with fans through chat functionalities on several of the digital media platforms. During the regular season, the show broadcasts from 1 to 3 p.m. EST, recapping the previous day’s action and looking ahead to the slate of games. In spring training though, the broadcasts moved up by two hours to better align with league schedules and serve as a pregame show for the games.
When the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres open the 2024 regular season in Seoul, South Korea, Foul Territory will add a live episode of the show airing immediately after the conclusion of the games. The endeavor is similar to what Foul Territory enacted during the MLB postseason, prompting instant reaction and uninterrupted discussion.
“It’s a hit, and the players have gotten behind it because the players see that it’s something that’s lacking for baseball, but they see that because of what basketball and football have been able to do,” Kratz said, “and everybody will use the excuse, ‘Well, baseball will never be football and basketball,’ and I would kick back against that and I would say, ‘Just not yet.’”
Last July, Foul Territory and Stadium Network agreed to a partnership that distributed the first hour of the program across the OTT streaming network. The agreement also included interactive technology components and appearances from national baseball insider Russell Dorsey, who recently joined Yahoo Sports. While Stadium Network no longer has a linear television component and has a social media focus, Foul Territory and Make Plays Media are open to partaking in discussions with traditional media entities for potential future opportunities.
“Marc and I pride ourselves in communication and we will have phone calls with anybody about content,” Braun explained, “and we like to make sure it stays on the theme of how we’ve become who we are in our first year.”
Ahead of the 2024 season, Foul Territory is poised to add a pitcher to its roster of co-hosts, expanding the collective knowledge of the sport to the details of the mound. The show will correspondingly continue to equip up-to-date technology in its production, recently using a remote three-camera setup for its spring training episodes. As a company, Make Plays Media will aim to serve as an outlet for players looking to have a voice in the media space, similar to what Colin Cowherd has done with his media venture, The Volume.
“We want to build a network of this, and we could branch off to other sports or whatever,” Weiner said, “but we really feel strongly that there’s so much growth potential in baseball that we want to focus on being the go-to baseball place.”
With a successful first year imbued with growth probability by focusing on resonating with consumers, Foul Territory and Make Plays Media are gearing up for a sophomore campaign wherein they hope that trajectory persists. There is a collective notion of unlimited potential for this enterprise, containing professionals passionate about their occupation and conveying it to the fans. The show adopted a motto that reads, “The world is our clubhouse,” ensuring that they bring the sport beyond the parameters of the foul poles and disseminate it to a growing global audience.
“It’s just all about [getting] everybody talking about the sport we love, which is baseball, more than they have in the past, and that is what the future is,” Pierzynski said. “The future is obviously digital. If you look at any company – from ESPN to MLB to NBA [to] NFL – digital has kind of become the way to go, so you’ve just got to get people involved and you’ve got to keep them engaged through a digital platform.”
Georgia Tech athletics has reached a five-year agreement for 680/93.7 The Fan to remain the flagship station of the Georgia Tech Sports Network, Tech athletics and Dickey Broadcasting Company announced this week in a release.
680/93.7 The Fan will continue to be the radio home of Georgia Tech football and men’s basketball games and will also carry coach’s shows with football coach Brent Key and men’s basketball coach Damon Stoudamire.
“We’re proud that 680/93.7 The Fan will remain the flagship station of the Georgia Tech Sports Network, as it has been for the last 30-plus years,” Georgia Tech director of athletics J Battsaid. “In addition to the benefits that come with having Georgia Tech football and men’s basketball radio broadcasts on the Southeast’s preeminent sports radio station, we’re especially excited and grateful to partner with 680/93.7 The Fan as we look to create expanded and innovative audio content for Tech fans worldwide. Many thanks to David Dickey and all the great people at Dickey Broadcasting Company for their continued support of Georgia Tech athletics.”
“We are excited that 680 The Fan will continue to serve as the proud radio home of Georgia Tech athletics and we look forward to working with J Batt and his team to create and deliver great Georgia Tech-themed content and events,” Dickey Broadcasting Company general manager/president David Dickey said. “680 The Fan has been the College Football Voice Of The South for over three decades, and Georgia Tech Athletics plays a big role in that.”
Georgia Tech football and men’s basketball games have aired on The Fan since 1993, and with the new agreement, the partnership between Tech athletics and Dickey Broadcasting Company will extend through the 2028-29 academic year. I
Super Tuesday 2024 proved as predictable as expected. Sure, Nikki Haley captured Vermont in its Republican race. And, businessman Jason Palmer won in American Samoa for the Democrats by receiving 51 of the 91 total votes cast in that territory. Nonetheless, it all assured the rematch of 2020 between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as each won all the remaining states’ available primaries of their respective political parties on Mar. 5
Also expected was that like the primary nights on TV in recent weeks, audiences were not as plentiful compared to recent presidential election years.
March 5th’s 10 PM Eastern hour featured the Big-3 broadcast networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – joining the cable news outlets in Super Tuesday coverage. Across seven networks, including Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and Newsmax, a combined 12.225 million watched results and analysis within that hour, according to Nielsen Media Research. This marked a 29-percent decline from the 6-network output (17.15 million; excluding Newsmax) of four years ago (Mar. 3, 2020), when then-candidate Biden began to build upon his victorious momentum over Bernie Sanders.
The decline was even more stark when factoring in the key 25-54 demographic. The combined demo rating from the Big-3 plus the three major cable news outlets was a 1.78 — 56 percent less than on Mar. 3, 2020, when the same six networks delivered a 4.06. (Note: a 1.0 rating in 25-54 equates to 1.21 million viewers within the aforementioned age range.)
Despite NBC (1.714 million) having the most potent 9 p.m. lead-in (The Voice, 3.954 million) for 10 p.m. Super Tuesday coverage, ABC (1.849 million) led the broadcast networks. CBS drew 1.5 million viewers.
Fox News (3.6 million; Super Tuesday’s most-watched outlet), MSNBC (2.045 million), and CNN (966,000) combined for 6.611 million viewers — down 33 percent from 2020 (9.84 million) and down 11 percent from 2016 (7.43 million for Hillary vs. Bernie, Trump vs. various GOPers) but up 19 percent from 2012 (5.545 million, Mitt Romney increased his lead in GOP).
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) and Comcast have attained an agreement that will retain the regional sports network’s presence on Xfinity cable packages. The deal, however, will move MASN and MASN2 to its more expensive “Ultimate TV” tier and will officially be implemented on Tuesday. Those who are subscribed to the channel within the Baltimore area looking to watch Baltimore Orioles or Washington Nationals games on MASN will now need to subscribe to the higher tier if they have not already done so in order not to lose the channel. The tier will eventually cost $20 more per month, a decision that aligns with moves Comcast has made in the Pittsburgh and Seattle marketplaces.
Comcast is set to offer a six-month promotional deal for its “Popular TV” subscribers interested in upgrading to “Ultimate TV.” This deal grants users the new package at no additional charge for the first three months followed by a $10 fee increase for the remaining three months. Ultimate TV costs approximately $115 per month for Xfinity subscribers in the Baltimore area, while the “Popular TV” package is priced at $95 per month.
“We’re pleased to have reached an agreement with MASN to continue carrying its networks and making them available on our Ultimate TV level of service before MLB’s Opening Day,” a Comcast spokesperson said in a statement. “We appreciate MASN working with us to find a solution to maintain MASN and MASN2 on our platform that also provides our customers with a choice.”
The two sides agreed to the deal following a short-term extension, first reported by John Ourand of Puck News. This was necessitated because of the deal’s expiration at the end of February, which is during MLB spring training. Although MASN and Comcast were able to reach an outcome in this instance, the regional sports network has not renewed with other cable providers such as RCN and Charter, nor is it available on streaming platforms such as YouTube TV and Hulu. According to MASN’s website, the network is in the midst of working on a direct-to-consumer application as well.
After winning a World Series championship in 2019, the Nationals have not qualified for the postseason and engaged in a significant restructuring of the roster. Conversely, the Orioles are coming off a 2023 campaign that ended with 101 wins and an American League East division title before falling short in the postseason. The team is in the midst of a sale to an ownership group featuring private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, a transaction that will also include MASN upon approval from MLB owners.
“At MASN, we know how much fans rely on their favorite sports coverage during the MLB season, and we are pleased to ensure Comcast customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region will continue to have access to MASN’s live coverage,” John McGuinness, senior vice president of MASN, said in a statement. “Comcast continues to be one of more than 20 providers delivering Orioles and Nationals games to fans.”
All Elite Wrestling, which airs three shows weekly between TNT and TBS has made some news regarding its announcers. Jim Ross said in the most recent version of his podcast, Grilling JR, he has signed a new one-year deal. It is unknown if “The Voice of Wrestling” will have a regular position on one of the shows, but made it sound like he will be on all of the major broadcasts, including an added schedule of pay-per-view events.
“We crafted a completely new deal. No extension. A fresh contract,” said Ross. “It was undoubtedly the most straightforward and fastest negotiation of my 50-year career. The ease is largely thanks to Tony Khan’s belief in me as a commentator. Being admired by your chief certainly aids your cause.
“With the new contract, I’ll have more on-air opportunities. It seems the focus will be on pay-per-view events. We’re expanding the number of these big events, and I expect to play some role in them. Feeling better as I heal, I’ll gladly focus on pay-per-views.
” [AEW President] Tony Khan was generous with the terms, the financials, and everything. Collaborating with Tony on this deal was a blessing. He set out to secure my signature, and he succeeded, while I found my ideal company. We’re both pleased with the outcome.”
Ross, who has been with AEW since 2019, has been battling health issues including skin cancer and, most recently, a broken hip.
Meanwhile, Kevin Kelly, who was brought in to host AEW: Collision when it started on Saturday evenings last year, but had since been replaced by Tony Schiavone, is no longer part of AEW’s broadcast roster.
A series of posts made by Kelly on his X account is said to have led to him being removed from the company:
