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ESPN Cleveland Draws the Ire of Andrea Thome, Wife of Jim Thome

BSM Staff
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ESPN Cleveland Draws the Ire of Andrea Thome, Wife of Jim Thome

It seems a bit done by ESPN Cleveland did not go over well with the wife of one of its targets. An intern at the station was given a chance to win $100 if he could get Jim Thome to call in to The Really Big Show with Tony Rizzo and Aaron Goldhammer.

Based on posts sent out on X from Andrea Thome, Jim’s wife, it seems the station may have taken things a bit too far. One of the posts says, “I did not have grown men on @ESPNCleveland bullying me on International Women’s Day because I won’t interrupt my husband while he is working across the country to call in so your intern can win $100. How about I Venmo the kid and you guys back off?”

A second post reads, “Repeatedly calling my son’s high school, too; and even his baseball coach. Peppering my son with multiple DMs while he is IN SCHOOL. All for what? Attention? Mission accomplished. And then light me on fire on social media for not going along with a “fun little bit.” Shameful.”

Thome explained to her X followers she had recently called in to a station for the first time ever, but that doesn’t mean she is interested in playing producer. “I called in the other day for the first time ever to offer clues when Jim couldn’t because he was working one of his three jobs. Now, I’m bound to engage with every copycat that tries these stunts to get him on talk shows? Come on. I guess it’s a good day to thin the herd.”

https://twitter.com/AndreaThome/status/1766185531040288842
https://twitter.com/AndreaThome/status/1766191273994563828

97.3 The Fan in San Diego To Hold 3 A.M. Padres Watch Party; Launch New Padres Roundtable

BSM Staff
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97.3 The Fan in San Diego To Hold 3 A.M. Padres Watch Party; Launch New Padres Roundtable

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers will be opening the 2024 Major League Baseball season on March 20th in Seoul, South Korea. First pitch for game one of two of the first ever regular-season games played in South Korea, will be 3:05 a.m San Diego time. This will not stop Padres flagship radio station, 97.3 The Fan, from hosting a watch party at a casino with their listeners.

The announcement was made on the Ben & Woods show and host Ben Higgins said to the audience watching on YouTube, “That graphic…is correct, 3:05 AM, maybe the first ever San Diego radio promotion that starts at 3 in the morning. I have been here my whole life, I don’t remember another one.”

Co-host Steven Woods said, “If you want to come hang out and watch a game with us, you have a chance to do that.”

Following the game, the station will air its usual post-game show and then Higgins and Woods will start their show and broadcast live from the sight of the watch party.

“I am curious to see how many of our listeners will join us at that time of the day,” Higgins said. Woods had some ground rules as it related to his appearance at the watch party. “…If the Padres get down 8-0 in the first, I am going back to bed. I will be leaving the hotel and I will see you guys for the show.”

Earlier this week, the station announced a new weekly Padres roundtable which will air on Thursday mornings. The show will feature Higgins and Woods along with station hosts Annie Heilbrunn, Craig Elsten, Tony Gwynn Jr., and Chris Ello.

Saga Communications Debuts Plans for 18 Local News Sites

BNM Staff
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Saga Communications Debuts Plans for 18 Local News Sites

On the back of the success of its ClarksvilleNow digital brand, Saga Communications has announced plans to launch local news outlets at 18 of its clusters around the nation.

The new digital news sites will launch by the end of the second quarter, which is well ahead of its previously scheduled target end-of-calendar-year date.

The company currently has 27 clusters in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. It will soon add Indiana to that list with its purchase of five stations from Neuhoff Media in the Lafayette market.

Saga Communications launched ClarksvilleNow.com in its northern Tennessee cluster in 2010 and will now attempt to replicate its success around the company. The newly added focus comes from ideas implemented when CEO Chris Forgy replaced Ed Christian as the group’s CEO in 2022 after the founder’s death.

“Many of the processes we put in place are just now starting to bear fruit, and are far from reaching mastery maturation stage,” Forgy said on the company’s earnings call Thursday.

“We were a little slower before in adapting to the digital marketplace,” CFO Sam Bush added. “But we’re running at a very fast pace right now and I think you’ll see some very good improvement in 2024.”

On the earnings call, Forgy claimed the company had already garnered $1 million in advertising dollars ahead of the debut, according to Inside Radio.

Bob Ley: You Can Argue ESPN Has Been Most Significant U.S. Cultural Force in Last 125 Years

BSM Staff
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Bob Ley: You Can Argue ESPN Has Been Most Significant U.S. Cultural Force in Last 125 Years

After working at ESPN for four decades, longtime host Bob Ley announced his retirement from the network in 2019. Ley, known for his time on SportsCenter, Outside the Lines and various other marquee programs, had taken a leave of absence several months earlier and expressed in a statement that it was his decision to step away. While he no longer works at the network, he keeps track of its occurrences and also helps foster the next generation by staying engaged with the Center for Sports Media at Seton Hall University. Ley helped launch the institution within the university and believes there is considerable opportunity in the sports media industry.

While the industry is moving towards digital content and distribution, including direct-to-consumer streaming services that do not require a traditional cable subscription, Ley remains true to the fundamental characteristics and qualities of professionals. At the same time though, he recognizes that the industry ecosystem is changing. In fact, Ley quickly canceled his cable subscription upon retiring from ESPN, something that he believes would have once been unfathomable. He recently explained the rationale behind his decision in an appearance on the SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina.

“If you said ‘á la carte’ in the hallways of Bristol back in the mid-teens or early-teens, you were taken outside and shot even without a court martial because the idea was, ‘No, no, we’re pushing it all out there,’” Ley expressed. “Now of course the race [that] is on is, ‘How do you skinny bundle?,’ or, ‘How do you direct-to-consumer an ESPN?’ I have the greatest of admiration for the people still running the company who are inventing new ways who are tasked with conceiving of revenue streams and pricepoints and strategies that work.”

Earlier in the year, The Walt Disney Company, FOX Corporation and Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to launch a new joint streaming venture in the fall. The service will include networks dedicated to sports coverage, along with other linear channels under the company portfolios. Many industry professionals were surprised at this resolution and there are a wide range of opinions advocating for or against the prospective advancement. Since Ley has retired, there have been people who have commended him for departing ESPN, referring to his timing as “exquisite.” In reality, he felt that it was time to move on and partially attributes his choice to leave to personal reasons.

“The effort and sacrifice required to do the job at the level I wanted to do it at and felt I was doing it at was such that it was just time for something different for a variety of reasons in my life, but it has changed,” Ley said. “Big stories will happen – they’ll bubble up – stories that will conflate sports with business, sports with culture and industry or whatever, sometimes globally, and you’ll say, ‘Damn, I’d like a piece of that story today. I’d like to have a half-hour back.’”

Ley conveyed that the economics of the situation do not allow an Outside the Lines daily television program to work. Moreover, he equated daily television to an analog platform and referred to it as being “gone into the universe.” Although the future of the medium remains ostensibly ambiguous, Ley enjoys reflecting back on his days at ESPN and believes that the network has made a lasting impact.

“I feel so lucky I’m in the team picture of the ‘27 Yankees,” Ley said. “I said, ‘If you ask yourself, ‘What’s the most significant cultural force in American culture in the last 125 years?,’ you can make a strong case that ESPN is that or very close to it with the establishment and the profligation of the sports entertainment industry.’”

FOX To Air College Football Games on Friday Nights Following ‘WWE SmackDown’ Departure

BSM Staff
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FOX already has its post-SmackDown plans in place — more college football. The company announced that matchups from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Mountain West conferences would air in primetime on Friday nights.

This move was rumored months back but it’s now officially official. There’s no word yet on what exact games will be featured because the conferences have not had their annual game selection meetings yet, but we can expect to see top teams from each division involved, including debuting teams like USC and UCLA in the Big Ten.

FOX notes that the Friday night timeslot is what some would consider an “underutilized” time but the network has had success with unfamiliar timeslots. Last season’s “Big Noon Saturday” package, another underutilized timeslot, averaged 6.74 million viewers on FOX, an 8 percent increase over 2022.

The college football package will air alongside FOX’s other Friday night tent pole events in the fall, including WWE’s Friday Night SmackDown in September until the show moves to USA Network, and the MLB playoffs and World Series in October and early November.

“FOX is football, and our new Friday night package will make FOX the leader in America’s game throughout the weekend,” said Michael Mulvihill, FOX president of insight and analytics, in a statement. “We’ve built our collegiate business by seizing opportunities in previously underutilized timeslots, first with “Big Noon Saturday” and now on Friday nights. Our goal this fall is to have the No. 1 college football game on both Fridays and Saturdays and the top NFL game on Sundays.”

Number of Female Radio Executives Increased in 2023 While PDs Dropped, New Study Shows

BNM Staff
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Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio, Inc. has released the results of a recent study about the number of female radio leaders, and the figures show an uptick in executive positions held by women.

According to MIW, 22.17% — or 2,356 stations — had women holding the General Manager position in 2023. That figure represents a jump of two percent. In top 100 markets, the number is slightly higher, with nearly 24% of GMs being women.

When compared to that figure 20 years ago, it has seen a steady increase. In 2004, only 14.9% of GM roles were held by women.

The number of female sales managers remained relatively flat in 2023, with 34.37% (3,476 stations) of stations having a female sales leader. That number was 33.45% in 2022.

Finally, the amount of women in programming roles lags behind those of sales and general managers.  Women currently program 11.50% (1,173 stations), which MIW called flat compared to 2022. In top 100 markets, the figure actually drops to 10.1%, representing a drop of 3% compared to the previous year.

“Navigating today’s landscape poses unique challenges for both the industry at large and women in particular. Our commitment to fostering change remains unwavering. Through MIW’s array of mentoring initiatives, we not only recognize but also amplify the voices of women,” said MIW Board President Ruth Presslaff.

“We are beyond grateful to the companies and individuals who champion our mission. As we press forward, we eagerly anticipate seizing new opportunities to empower even more women in the year ahead.”

Jessica Mendoza Re-Signs with ESPN

BSM Staff
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A fixture of ESPN’s baseball coverage will stick around for a few more years. Jessica Mendoza, who covers both baseball and softball for the network, is back with ESPN. The exact terms of the deal were not disclosed but the company posted a video of Mendoza announcing the move via its @ESPNPR X account:

Mendoza joined ESPN in 2007 and in 2015, became the first woman to serve as an analyst for nationally-televised MLB games. She has since become one of the leading voices in ESPN’s baseball coverage, broadcasting Major League Baseball and Little League World Series games. Unsurprisingly, she also calls softball games at every level for ESPN.

For the uninitiated, Mendoza had an illustrious softball career that resulted in a ton of hardware. She is a two-time Olympian and was a member of the U.S. Women’s National team from 2001-10. Her team won the Gold Medal during the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece, and the Silver Medal during the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.

She is both a three-time World Champion (2002, 2006, 2010) and World Cup Champion (2006, 2007, 2010), in addition to being a two-time Pan American Gold Medalist (2003, 2007). In 2006, she was named the USA Softball Athlete of the Year and was also recognized in 2008 as the Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year. In 2019, Mendoza was inducted into the National Softball Hall of Fame.

Shannon Sharpe: I Made More From Katt Williams Interview Than Any Year I Played in NFL

BSM Staff
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Shannon Sharpe has been riding high since departing Undisputed and his highest of highs came when his Club Shay Shay interview with Katt Williams went super viral. Sharpe just got the check from views and downloads from that episode — and it’s more than he made at the end of any of his 14 NFL seasons.

“Put it like this here,” Sharpe told co-host Chad Johnson. “I made more money on Katt Williams alone than I made in any year I played in the NFL.” Sharpe posted an updated Katt Williams graphic to X earlier today that shows just how many downloads and views the episode is at now:

Sharpe has been ferociously defending his title as the “Sports Media Personality of the Year” with multiple projects across sports and entertainment. Outside of his Club Shay Shay podcast, which is more entertainment-focused but dabbles in sports, he hosts his daily podcast Nightcap alongside Chad Johnson or Gilbert Arenas, depending on the show’s focus for that day. Of course, Sharpe co-hosts First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith, which has seen record growth over the past few months thanks in part to the chemistry between Smith and Sharpe.

Dan Bernstein: Concerned New White Sox Announcer John Schriffen “Is Going to Get a Real Rough Ride”

BSM Staff
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Dan Bernstein: Concerned New White Sox Announcer John Schriffen “Is Going to Get a Real Rough Ride”

Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score in Chicago is not impressed with new Chicago White Sox TV announcer John Schriffen, but it’s still early. Schriffen is in his first season with the team after popular play-by-play man Jason Benetti chose to leave the White Sox to go to the Detroit Tigers.

“Full disclosure, Jason Benetti is a dear friend of mine,” said Bernstein. “And full disclosure, I am just sick about how things ended for him in Chicago.” Bernstein has expressed this sentiment before and talked about it with Benetti and his usual partner Laurence Holmes, who was off on this day.

A clip of a Spring Training home run call from Schriffen was played coming out of a commercial break and upon its conclusion, Bernstein commented, “It’s a long season, it’s a long major league career, just give yourself a little bit of runway, give yourself a place to go from here. It’s just a Spring Training game, that’s all it is, there’s gonna be a lot of home runs.”

Bernstein noted, just like players, it is Spring Training for everyone and that Schriffen may just be “working on stuff.” He added, “And I understand this is somebody getting a big league job for the first time.”

Bernstein explained to his audience that he doesn’t know Schriffen and really doesn’t know anything about him other than what is in his bio. “I wish him the best, and I mean that, and I hope he succeeds,” Bernstein said. “I have nothing against him, I am not rooting against him. I am a little bit concerned about what it’s going to be like to have that level of intensity for a Spring Training game…I am getting some flashbacks to Chip Caray, for not really recognizing that a Tuesday night in April is exciting and fun, but it’s not necessarily a night in October and shouldn’t be treated as such.

“… The good news is I dont know how compelled I am going to be to watch any White Sox baseball, truth be told…I dont want to make fun of him, I heard that call, I sent it in my group text with the ‘yikes face’ emoji, and thinking ‘oh boy man, it could be a long, rough year.’ My hope is that is a veteran truck and he has a veteran partner, I hope that he is figuring some things out and going to work his way into the season and work his way into what I hope is a long and fruitful broadcasting career. But, this is not a small market, this is not a medium sized market. As somebody who was a baseball broadcaster in small markets, that’s where you go to find your voice, that’s where you go to learn how you sound, listen to your tapes, to experiment in front of a less critical audience.”

Bernstein continued and talked about it not just being any market Schriffen has been thrown into. “As we know, this market is a highly ctitical audience…maybe only after New York when it comes to broadcasters,” Bernstain said. “I am concerned that he is going to get a real rough ride. I’ve got nothing against him, I am going to be truthful how I feel, I am not here to polish anybody’s apple and I am not going to tell you you are watching somethiing other than what you are watching or hearing something other than what you are hearing, because we make fun of everyone here…I hope the White Sox have not done a disservice for someone who is not quite ready for this platform, for this scrutiny, for that kind of pulpit.”

Bernstein said he wants to give it a little bit of time and then he will come back and talk to the audience more about this subject. “I think there is going to be a time and a place to reassess,” he said. “But, I want to be fair and give everybody a chance to work through Spring Training… I hear what you hear…I would feel awful if I jumped in and just started absolutely pounding this guy right now, I just don’t think it’s that time.”

Schriffen, 39, was a guest of Parkins & Spiegel on 670 The Score back in late January when his hiring was announced. When asked about his broadcasting style, Schriffen did not hesitate to say, “I’m going to bring the heat. I’m bringing the energy. As soon as there is a crazy play, you are going to hear it, you are going to feel it. Im a passionate person.”

Schriffen’s work for NBC Sports Chicago marks his first play-by-play duties for a team. He broadcast KBO games for ESPN during the pandemic and has done college basketball, college football, college baseball, the XFL, NBA preseason games, G-League and Summer League and Major League Baseball games for ESPN radio.

Monumental Sports Network, NWSL Club Washington Spirit Agree to Regional Broadcast Deal

BSM Staff
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Monumental Sports Network, NWSL Club Washington Spirit Agree to Regional Broadcast Deal

Monumental Sports Network is adding more DC-area sports to its airwaves with news that it will broadcast ten NWSL matches from the Washington Spirit. The first match available to fans on Monumental Sports Network will be the team’s season opener on Sunday, Mar. 17 as the Spirit take on Seattle Reign FC at 6 p.m. ET.

Following the season debut, the network’s slate will feature six home and four away matches during the upcoming season, including matchups against the San Diego Wave, the Orlando Pride, KC Currents, and two matches against the Chicago Red Stars and the Seattle Reign.

Monumental Sports Network NWSL Washington Spirit schedule
Courtesy: Monumental Sports Network

“We are ecstatic to feature Washington Spirit matches for the second consecutive year on our network,” said Friday Abernethy, general manager of Monumental Sports Network. “Between the Spirit and the Mystics, our network features live game broadcasts from two of the most prominent women’s sports franchises in the DMV region, and we are so proud to provide a platform to showcase these world-class athletes and invest in making their games available to local sports fans.”

Matches will be available to local fans both on linear TV and via streaming platforms. Spirit fans can watch the games through their Pay TV subscription, on monumentalsportsnetwork.com, or by downloading the Monumental streaming app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV and using an eligible TV Everywhere log-in.

Don’t have cable? Fans can purchase monthly or annual memberships at monumentalsportsnetwork.com or by downloading the Monumental Sports Network app. In addition to the slate of Spirit games, subscribers also receive in-market access to live games for the Capitals, Wizards, and Mystics, amongst other live games, original programs, and tangible membership perks.

“We are pleased to evolve our partnership with Monumental Sports Network this season,” said Spirit CEO Kim Stone. “Airing our matches on Monumental will allow us to leverage their regional model to expand our reach and broaden our exposure throughout the area. This will give fans an additional opportunity to see some of the best athletes in the world.”

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