The one thing the ESPN folks can’t be is surprised. Disappointed, sure. Caught off guard — I mean, maybe, but even that’s a stretch. Mostly, they’re in scramble mode because what was almost inevitable wound up occurring sooner than they’d hoped.
But this was going to happen, because this is the beast they’ve built.
And for the most part, it is still very much the system they want.
Doc Rivers jumped the network last week after barely half a season as part of ESPN’s No. 1 NBA broadcast team. Rivers is a coach, and a job opened up, and, you know, coaches coach. And, certainly, it wasn’t just any job; it was the Milwaukee Bucks, a team with a very reasonable shot at an NBA Finals appearance this season.
Outside of the ESPN miniverse, it won’t register as a shock that a 24-year head coach with unbridled ambition would bounce on to his next gig, especially one in which a 30-13 team with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Dame Lillard on the roster says, “Hey, roll right in.” Rivers would’ve been foolish to pass up an opportunity so rich — and at the risk of restating the obvious, he’s a coach.
We’re to believe that ESPN was surprised and disappointed by this turn of events. But let’s step back just a bit.
The network hired Rivers with eyes wide open; Doc gave absolutely no indication that he was retiring from the coaching profession even as he joined ESPN. According to the New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, ESPN executives “stressed to (Rivers) that they didn’t want the network to be a waiting room until he took his next coaching job.” Yet they clearly didn’t get that part down on paper, and I’m pretty sure finger-wagging a grown man won’t usually carry the day.
Why would a network with such extensive experience in these matters not require Doc Rivers to agree to a contractual obligation of at least some minimal amount of time in the No. 1 analyst’s chair – say, one full season?
Answer: Because they’ve done really well by this system. For decades.
You can say that coaches use ESPN as a way station between gigs, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But they’re not the only parties to the deal. The network has benefitted tremendously from such high-profile fly-bys and extended stays, whether it be Urban Meyer or David Ross or Mack Brown or Buck Showalter or — really, the list is way longer than we’ve got time for here.
Aaron Boone had a full MLB playing career, transitioned almost immediately to ESPN’s baseball coverage after retiring, and then parlayed years of exposure there into a job managing the Yankees. Being on ESPN raised Boone’s stock immeasurably. But part of the reason his stock rose was that Boone was really good at talking about baseball on TV, and ESPN’s coverage reaped the rewards of that for a long, long time.
It is ironic that when the network blew out top NBA analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson last summer, part of the reported reasoning was that ESPN was wary of the desire of both men to return someday to coaching. The firings were part of a brutal round of layoffs forced by parent company Disney, and the loss of Van Gundy and Jackson tore up ESPN’s No. 1 NBA game-day team, anchored by Mike Breen.
It’s hard to imagine that coaches aren’t welcome at ESPN just because they’re still interested in coaching, so let’s assume the money had a lot to do with all that. Either way, ESPN was rolling the dice that it could create another popular No. 1 NBA crew, even if it couldn’t replicate the unique chemistry among Breen, Jackson and Van Gundy.
Enter Rivers and Doris Burke. And the new group appeared to be clicking, with the sure-handed Breen running the show. But you’ll never convince me that ESPN didn’t still understand what the risks were, and that they were real. They went with Doc Rivers, who since his debut with Orlando in 1999 has held a head-coaching assignment in the league every single year without fail. The man has never stopped being a coach, ever.
ESPN’s folks could have made a different decision. They chose Rivers because they thought he’d deliver the best numbers — better than, say, JJ Redick or Richard Jefferson, two rising stars and talented basketball analysts at the network who still can’t come close to matching Rivers’ glittering profile in the NBA.
Whether one of those two — Redick or Jefferson — winds up joining the No. 1 ESPN crew in time for the NBA Finals is an open question. It would also be novel, and history-making for Burke, to see Breen and Burke simply work that gig as a duo. The network has options.
But don’t assume that Rivers’ quick exit marks the end of an era at ESPN. The network’s execs got burned on this one, but they’ll jump right back into the fire next time and chase down the biggest star power they can wrangle. What can you say? This hiccup aside, it’s good for business.
FOX Sports has a problem on its hands. It appears as if the network doesn’t think it will be an issue moving Greg Olsen from its top booth in favor of Tom Brady. Think again.
The verdict is in. People love Greg Olsen. Near universal praise is heaped on him during the sport’s biggest moments, and I would think that goodwill is something that would be difficult to throw away. I know CBS Sports would probably say “We thought the same thing about Tony Romo”, but it feels different with Olsen. He’s locked in, committed, focused, and articulate. He’s a fantastic analyst, one worthy of the top spot at a network.
Conversely, Tom Brady has approached his role with FOX Sports with the same enthusiasm Ron DeSantis displayed while attempting to learn how to smile. It’s been awkward every time he’s discussed it. He’s adamant he’ll join the booth next year, going as far as to tell Front Office Sports he’ll be paired with Kevin Burkhardt in 2024, and he won’t be part of a three-man booth.
And in my radical solution to the problem facing FOX Sports, he wouldn’t be in a three-man booth. He’d be in every booth.
The network is paying Tom Brady boatloads of cash. It’s an astronomical number that made every media pundit raise their eyebrows when the $37.5 million annual salary was reported.
Is it getting its best bang for its buck by simply pairing him with Burkhardt for one game a week? Obviously, executives at the company feel that way, otherwise they wouldn’t have inked him to such a deal.
But in a day and age where specialized analysts exist, why couldn’t the network turn Tom Brady into one?
It’s the best of both worlds. Olsen, who is nearing “best analyst in the game” status in the eyes of many viewers, retains his top spot in the network’s lead booth alongside Kevin Burkhardt. The longer the duo are paired together, the more venerable they become, the more gravitas their voices command, and FOX Sports comes out a winner.
On the flip side, FOX can use Tom Brady in a Mike Pereira/Dean Blandino role. Build the man a studio at whatever palatial estate he decides he wants it at, and have him drop in on FOX NFL Sunday, the halftime show, and any broadcast crew’s beck and call.
Think about it. Instead of only getting Tom Brady in the 4:25 PM ET window with the Packers vs Lions, imagine watching whatever craptastic 1:00 PM ET game is being shown in your area. Let’s pretend it’s the Falcons and the Panthers. Bryce Young just threw his second interception of the game. Horrible decision. Bad throw. Whatever. We can get the perspective of Mark Schlereth, Jonathan Vilma, or Robert Smith or you can hear Adam Amin/Chris Myers/Kenny Albert say “Let’s go to our Florida studios and get the perspective of Tom Brady, the greatest to ever play the position. Tom, what did you see there from Young and why did he miss that throw?”
And he can do that throughout the day. Giving his perspective on each and every game on FOX that day. It feeds into his ego that you want him to be on every game in your stable, and you want him to have as big of a presence as possible. If fans don’t like it, who cares? He’s on the screen giving his opinion for a couple of minutes, at maximum, in each broadcast. That’s more palatable than for a few hours at a time if he’s not any good at this.
It also allows Greg Olsen to remain in the booth he wants to be in, feeding his ego, and your company reaping the benefits of his excellence in the process.
It’s the same thing rules analysts have become. Some broadcasts employ special team experts like Jay Feely or previously with Steve Tasker. Some even now have doctors on call for injury analysis. Why not use the greatest person to play the most important position in the game to your advantage in the same way?
FOX Sports didn’t strictly sign Tom Brady to be its lead NFL analyst. The idea that the network could use him in promotional opportunities, have him hobnob with sponsors on the golf course, attend galas and fundraisers, and do speaking engagements for advertisers is also included in that package. The network is going to get its money back on Brady no matter how it decides to use him.
But is torpedoing the success it has built with the Burkhardt and Olsen pairing the best use of its newfound talent? In my estimation, no. But I’m not Eric Shanks. I don’t get paid the big bucks to make these decisions. Truth be told, I don’t know how many poor decisions I think FOX Sports has even made over the past decade that would lead me to even question the decision-making.
However, when you have a winner, breaking it up simply to force-feed viewers something they’re not even sure they want feels like a bad idea.
There’s a radical solution here. In traditional internet speculation fashion, there’s simply one question to ask about this idea: Who says no?
One of the preeminent sports media insiders in the country, Andrew Marchand was announced Tuesday as the newest addition to the staff at The Athletic. Marchand will be covering sports business and media, an area all too familiar to Richard Deitsch.
Deitsch, who is a media reporter for The Athletic and host of the Sports Media podcast, joined Bernstein & Holmes on 670 The Score in Chicago Tuesday and offered his reaction.
“Yes, I did know about this prior to the news breaking,” Deitsch explained. He said he knew of Marchand’s arrival about two weeks ago. “Marchand is a tremendous news breaker and will add, I think, fantastic coverage in that area.”
Richard didn’t feel like he was being infringed upon by the outlet bringing in another sports media writer. He took it as a compliment considering several other topic areas The Athletic covers have multiple writers on staff.
“The reality is, I can just tell you this. I’m not trying to come off like a self-promoting ass, but my stuff does really good traffic,” Deitsch said. “And what it tells you is that there’s much more of an interest in sports media than I think generally editorial managers ever realized and knew.”
Deitsch added that he felt like there shouldn’t be any issues with either him or Andrew Marchand covering the stories they want to cover.
“There’s enough to go around in terms of the real meta stuff,” he said. “I just think Marchand and I are very different. We’re different writers, we like different things. I think we have different strengths, so I think it could work. The proof will be in the pudding. The Athletic has done a good job in terms of really loading up in areas where they think that they can get interest. There’s a reason we have 15 college football writers. Whatever it is, 40 NFL writers. We have multiple NASCAR or racing writers.”
“Marchand is a very, very skilled news breaker and I would expect him to be doing the same things for us as he did for the New York Post,” Richard Deitsch continued.
“Journalists” were caught on a hot mic joking about assassinating Former President Trump. America’s first 24-hour news channel, CNN, has lower primetime ratings than the History Channel. Plus, trusted fact-checking outlet Snopes was caught on Twitter lying about President Joe Biden wearing a hard hat backward (yes, the president really did improperly wear a hard hat). This is the state of modern journalism.
As mistrust in the media continues to grow, claims of bias spew from the left and the right side of the aisle. The important thing for Americans to remember this election cycle is media has always been biased and the “Journalistic Code of Ethics” is a sham. I’m not aware of a single newsroom that requires employees to stand up and take an oath to uphold a certain standard of “unbiased” journalism.
Furthermore, journalists having a code of ethics is relatively new. The Hoover Institute made note of this in 2013, saying, “The notion that reporters should possess Olympian objectivity is relatively recent. In the nineteenth century, most newspapers were explicitly linked to a particular political party and the economic interests of the publisher.”
To put this in modern-day terms, if you are going to vote Democrat you probably read The New York Times. If you are going to vote Republican you are probably reading The Washington Times.
Let me be very clear, I’m not saying bias is good or bad, I’m saying it just doesn’t belong in the media. As a human being, bias is unavoidable. Our personal bias trickles into everything we create, like journalism, poetry, art, and even Artificial Intelligence. What is concerning is media outlets saying they are unbiased yet those same outlets will be biased when its convenient.
This election cycle, every journalist (and I use that term loosely) will tell you they are not biased. Every single outlet and tabloid will tell you they don’t have an agenda. This is a lie. When phrases like “anti-abortion” or “anti-life” are used, this is bias. Those phrases tell you which side of the argument the journalist’s bias is. The proper terminology is “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice.”
The sneakiest way to show your bias is with spin. All Sides Media defines spin as “clouds a reader’s view, preventing them from getting a precise take on what happened.” Phrases like “high-stakes,” “stunning,” and “fumes” all bring bias. Check out these headlines and how they could have been written more neutrally.
USA Today – Check on power of federal government or something else? Stakes high in SCOTUS fishing case
Better headline: SCOTUS to hear case which could limit federal government regulators
— Saying the “stakes are high” is not objective. Who are they high for? And why? If you can answer those questions after reading the article you know it’s biased.
HuffPost: Snoop Dogg Has Stunning Change Of Opinion On Trump
Better headline: Snoop Dog Changes Opinion on Trump
—You literally don’t need the word stunning at all. It just makes it inflammatory clickbait
Sports Illustrated: Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins Fumes Over Goal-Line Fumble: ‘Why Am I Not Out There?’
Better headline: Ravens’ J.K. Dobbins: “Why Am I Not Out There?”
—Ok let’s be honest, the likelihood of this being written by an AI robot is high but the point is still the same. Merriam-Webster defines fume as “something (such as an emotion) that impairs one’s reasoning.” Yes, you are trying to get his emotion across but say he is passionate not fuming.
In 2020, a Brown University study found political polarization was growing faster in the United States than any other democracy in the last 40 years. Since the inception of our country, people have disagreed. However, today the problem is not disagreeing, it’s our inability to speak on opposing views. I personally blame CNN’s show Crossfire for this.
Well before social media placed Americans in a “filter bubble,” the 1982 half-hour show divided the country by turning political discussions into an “I’m right, you’re wrong” screaming match. Or, as Jon Stewart said on his 2004 appearance, “It’s hurting America. Here is what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop.” He later added, “Right now, you’re helping the politicians and the corporations. And we’re left out there to mow our lawns.”
Stewart’s message is simple, when the news distills stories down to talking points the American public loses.
The evidence of biased journalism has been blatantly in front of us since the beginning of our country and still is. Going forward let’s be honest and remember one thing. There is no unbiased journalism or news outlet. Never was and never will be. It’s just not possible. Everything we are today has formed because, for better or worse, we (humanity as a whole) are biased.
Karlo Sy Su is the Digital Content Manager for ESPN Los Angeles – the flagship station for the Los Angeles Lakers, Rams, and LA FC. Karlo spoke at the 2023 BSM Summit and since that presentation, there have been some exciting developments at ESPN LA on the digital side.
ESPN LA has the largest cumulative social media following in sports radio. 518K follow the brand on Facebook, 246K on Instagram, 95K on X, and 17K on TikTok. Another 37K consume the brand’s content on YouTube. That’s just under one million collectively across all platforms. All of that by the way is without adding the station’s radio audience.
In our conversation, Karlo explains why niche audiences on social deliver greater impact, how sponsorship activations work in the form of social campaigns, how ESPN LA leverages its flagship partnerships to develop unique content and how social media can greatly expand the impact of terrestrial radio.
Sports media professionals are encouraged to watch the full version of the interview on our YouTube page. Also, if you haven’t checked out our prior interviews with other social media managers, click here. Please be aware that the interview below has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Alex Reynolds: Put me in your day-to-day and tell me about the team that you work with on the digital side. From your interaction with talent, PDs and others inside ESPN LA.
Karlo Sy Su: What we love Alex is that not a day goes by where it’s the same old same old. Going into the day, a lot of constant communication goes on between the digital team, which I’m proud to say I have a digital team. I know a lot of sports stations or radio stations in general can’t afford even just one person to dedicate to social media. Because of Good Karma Brands and the load that we cover, we’re able to utilize part timers who are hungry to participate in producing digital content and finding ways to create opportunities for themselves.
That communication also involves the content team and the sales marketing consultant team. That allows us to be on the same page when it comes to creating content. Having that same mindset and those same goals of who we want to target our content to.
AR: What would you say the top three platforms are for ESPN Los Angeles?
KS: I always love that question. Instagram, to me, is such a great network to be able to engage with our fans. The engagement rate for us is much higher on Instagram than on other platforms. Because of that, we prioritize Instagram to communicate directly with those who are consuming our content.
YouTube is also up there. I would rank that as like a 1a and 1b not even a one and two. YouTube we prioritize as a platform to live stream nine hours of daily programming. We’ve used YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and X to stream and simulcast our radio shows. We’re able to surprise our fans and partners by showing them that ESPN Los Angeles is no longer a station on your radio dial inside your car. You’re able to stay connected with us no matter where you are, on your phone or on your computer.
AR: Why is it important to be on not just live streaming on your primary channel, but every channel possible?
KS: We cater to our audience! Our audience doesn’t have channels on every platform. So we’re making it as easy as possible for our audience to access us. If you’re connecting with us on X, we want you to be one tap away from following us and able to communicate. If you are on Facebook it’s the same thing. We want to make it as easy as possible by being on as many platforms as possible.
AR: Tell me about the growth strategies that you go through at ESPN LA.
KS: We let our content do a lot of the talking. By doing that, it shows that our audience is willing to engage with it. And they show that they’re hungry for more. We want to follow the numbers, study the analytics, know what is and isn’t working and grow from there.
By seeing what is working, we want to cater to that audience and provide them more of that content. People know they can go on YouTube or any of our social media platforms and get content from us on a regular basis. That shows that we are a reliable source.
AR: Tell me a little bit about those brand partnerships and how you’ve been able to make social media into a revenue driver for the station.
KS: It’s been an incredible year on that. Being able to push our partners in that relationship between our fans and our talent has been a top priority.
I would say one of the biggest things I’m proud about is a campaign that we had with Bibigo – the official Jersey patch of the Los Angeles Lakers. One of their big priorities was brand awareness. Their product wasn’t being pushed to the forefront by the Lakers. So they turned to us as a team partner of the Lakers for ways of continue improving that relationship.
We were able to, with communication with the Lakers, put the product in the players’ hands on media day. It was a huge win for us and a huge win for them. The players actually loved having Bibigo in their hands, tasting the product, eating it on camera with us. In these meetings, we had the idea of having fun with it. Doing a a dumpling dunk contest in adding style points to the piece.
One of the biggest compliments that you can get is from fans who are watching the video and saying, ‘This doesn’t feel like an ad.’ That means you did your job. It’s another level for us to not just put up an ad but to organically integrate our partners into the content that we’re already doing. We’re used to having fun with players on media day. Now we integrate a partner to it.
Also, if you watch our social media live stream, we have lower thirds integrating a logo from the partner. Maybe it’s a promo code or an offer that talent are passionately pushing. It’s just about finding different ways to include the partner in the relationship between talent and fans. And it gets hilarious sometimes when you’re watching the YouTube livestream and you look in the chat and totally unprovoked you have fans talking about the product that they see. Not because we’re forcing them to do this but because our fans are becoming passionate about the partners that we have.
AR: Speaking of partnerships, being a flagship station is huge in the radio business. You already mentioned the Lakers and the Rams. How have those partnerships opened up doors in terms of social content?
KS: Because of how we approach our team partnerships, we want to be able to bridge our fans and give them the same access that we have. I remember growing up when I was an intern, I’d get these awesome opportunities to be in the Lakers locker room talking to Kobe [Bryant] and Pau [Gasol]. That was a lifetime dream for me. I grew up with Laker fans in my family and my friends. They wanted to see the same things that I see and I grew that foundation into what we believe here at ESPN Los Angeles.
We want to connect our fans, as much as possible to be the eyes and the ears of the content. As if they were a fly on the wall inside Crypto or SoFi stadium. We know not every fan can afford to be there and we know not every fan has the same access that we do. But we want to share that access as much as possible.
We know it is also on the team to be gatekeepers of this content at times, and we are ready for them to say no. But as long as we have unique ideas and perspectives to share their stories, the teams are usually behind it. Because of that, it goes back to the reliability that we have and fans knowing that they’re going to get some of the best in-depth content from us, not just from the official team accounts.
I found it interesting that not every radio station approaches it that way. As a team partner, we want to provide social content that is similar, maybe even sometimes better than a one-sided voice from the official team accounts.
AR: You talked about measuring what works and what doesn’t. Social gives you a ton of data points to work with so, what do you feel are the biggest social and digital KPIs for you?
KS: It’s definitely got to be engagement. I know a lot of partners measure their success in impressions. GKB measures their success with followers. I love having the largest sports radio social media following in the country, that’s something I’m proud of. But knowing that we have an audience that continues to engage with the content, brings the impressions and the followers. I don’t think it’s the same story the other way.
Knowing that our fans aren’t just following us because we told them to or maybe because of a contest. But they actually follow because they believe in our content and want to see more.
I had a great discussion with one of my teammates about this. I asked, what are you more proud about on this post? Was it the 100 likes in the first two or three minutes or the 120 comments that came from it? We said it’s the comments because of the energy that your fans spend to engage to react to content. It takes more energy to comment then to double tap and scroll on to the next post. Our job is to make you stop scrolling. Not only did you see it because you follow us, but you stopped scrolling because you were passionate enough to engage with our content.
To me, that is more critical and valuable because we took your time.
AR: You guys do great and exciting content around teams but let’s bring it inside the station. Tell me what you believe are the keys to creating good social content out of radio.
KS: I feel so lucky to have a team of clowns. Not only do I have professional talent, who are great at what they do on radio. They have personalities, and I think that translates well on social media. Any vanilla person can deliver a message, but they integrate their hot takes with uniqueness. Our talent do a great job of that.
When you look at the numbers, and their followings, they’ve built them because of the persona that they’ve created themselves. I think it’s our job at ESPN LA in our social media accounts, to just supplement it. It’s not on us to build their persona. That’s on them, and our role is to continue showcasing it.
For example, Scott Kaplan is willing to integrate partners in unique ways. He’s thinking about things the same way that we are, not just looking to put a logo on something or read a sponsor tagline. He’s trying to find ways to implement it in his message in his content, and it’s awesome.
One person I want to mention, in particular, is Chris Morales. We’re lucky to have him. The radio industry would be so much better if there was a Chris Morales at every station because he gives that extra level of pushing talent to pursue ways of not being boring in integrating a partner or engaging other talent.
It’s unique, and it challenges us every day. Because of that, we’ve built a franchise like the Mandy’s where fans are willing to show up to root for our own talent to get awards from ourselves. It’s such a unique scenario that I don’t think everybody can duplicate.
One thing I want to add is- and this further supports the growth of the talent without our social media channels -on X, each of the shows (Travis and Sliwa, Mason and Ireland, Sedano and Kaplan) have their own X communities. They interact with their P1 listeners without [the social team] engaging with them. It’s all self driven, the producers and the talent are in there talking with their fans. Fans are talking with each other. They don’t need [@ESPNLosAngeles] to continue to push that message.
AR: Would you recommend that to other stations and other markets… breaking it up by show?
KS: That’s an interesting question. I actually looked across the GKB markets, and we were asked about our predictions for 2024. I said that social media would be more engaging in a smaller space. So being more of a private social media community, meaning like communities where you have to be a member, which provides that feeling of exclusivity.
If we decided to do show social media accounts, anybody can click follow. But to be part of a community, you must actually be a listener. You can set up quiz questions to be part of it.
This, again, creates that feeling that I don’t need to post something that is going to be seen by everybody. I’m just going to post something to the audience that actually cares about it. Because of that, it’s a more efficient way of getting your message out.
AR: You mentioned that you’re lucky to have a full digital team around you. But not all stations are like that. What advice do you have for stations that have one or maybe a few part-time people working on the digital and social side?
KS: I’m willing to bet there is at least one person who is interested in starting a social media page for the station. Continue to provide them with opportunities where they can grow the station in ways that are challenging right now. We know this current market isn’t prime for sports radio. This isn’t the golden era of sports radio. But to find ways to connect to a younger audience, even a larger audience that you may never have tapped into, social media is a great space for that.
There’s so much young talent coming out of school, that are social media savvy, that a lot of us in the radio business who have been in it for a while, may not be thinking that forward. In sports radio, we’re finding ways to connect with an audience. It’s the same with social media just on a different channel.
For us at ESPN Los Angeles, we don’t view ourselves as a radio station that is on from 6am to 7pm. We are always on because you can interact and reach out via our social media platforms, which are 24-25 hours, eight days a week.
While the legal woes of Donald Trump seem to have scarce effect on his standing as the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. President, it nonetheless garners extra attention for those covering those issues.
This past Friday (Jan. 26), a jury in New York City awarded $83.3 million to journalist and advice columnist E. Jean Carroll for Trump’s continued social media attacks against her over her claims that he sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store back in 1996.
This award was in addition to a $5 million sexual assault and defamation verdict against Trump in May 2023 from another jury in a case brought by Carroll.
Breaking news of the announcement of this verdict came on Friday, Jan. 26 at about 4:45 PM Eastern. Compared to the previous Fridays in January – the same month that also focused on the recent Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary – both CNN and MSNBC rose significantly in their respective timeslots:
CNN
4-5 PM: 811,000 viewers (+44% from 1/19/24; +20% from 1/12/24; +9% from 1/5/24)
5-6 PM: 965,000 viewers (+59% from 1/19/24; +51% from 1/12/24; +36% from 1/5/24)
6–7 PM: 828,000 viewers (+46% from 1/19/24; +31% from 1/12/24; +15% from 1/5/24)
7–8 PM: 697,000 viewers (+19% from 1/19/24; +8% from 1/12/24; +4% from 1/5/24)
MSNBC
4-6 PM: 1.879 million viewers (+33% from 1/19/24; +39% from 1/12/24; +28% from 1/5/24)
6–7 PM: 1.935 million viewers (+47% from 1/19/24; +37% from 1/12/24; +32% from 1/5/24)
7–8 PM: 1.535 million viewers (+27% from 1/19/24; +26% from 1/12/24; +18% from 1/5/24)
While the right-leaning Fox News Channel again led that time period in total viewers, the outlet actually drew less than some of its recent previous Fridays:
4-5 PM: 1.425 million viewers (+3% from 1/19/24; +3% from 1/12/24; +8% from 1/5/24)
5–6 PM: 2.811 million viewers (-2% from 1/19/24; -7% from 1/12/24; +3% from 1/5/24)
6–7 PM: 2.171 million viewers (-2% from 1/19/24; -1% from 1/12/24; +8% from 1/5/24)
7–8 PM: 2.060 million viewers (-6% from 1/19/24; -2% from 1/12/24; +7% from 1/5/24)
As discussion of the verdict entered into prime time on Jan. 26, each of the three major cable news outlets had their most–watched and highest–rated Friday night of January 2024, with the left–leaning MSNBC growing the most, percentage-wise:
Fox News Channel: 2.288 million viewers (+3% from 1/19/24; +3% from 1/12/24; +13% from 1/5/24); 0.19 adults 25-54 rating (+4% from 1/19/24; +8% from 1/12/24; +30% from 1/5/24)
MSNBC: 1.523 million viewers (+16% from 1/19/24; +23% from 1/12/24; +29% from 1/5/24); 0.12 adults 25-54 rating (+43% from 1/19/24; +11% from 1/12/24; +40% from 1/5/24)
CNN: 0.585 million viewers (+16% from 1/19/24; +5% from 1/12/24; +7% from 1/5/24); 0.09 adults 25-54 rating (+18% from 1/19/24; +17% from 1/12/24; +17% from 1/5/24)
Note: a 1.0 rating in the key 25-54 demographic equates to 1.22 million viewers within the age range of 25 to 54.
Fox News has reason for celebration Tuesday, as it announced a 22nd consecutive year as the most-watched cable news channel.
According to the network, it was the only cable news channel to show year-over-year growth in the 18-34 demographic.
Additionally, The Five remains the most-watched cable news program among total viewers, and Jesse Watters Primetime recently saw its most-watched month since it launched last year.
“Marking another historic feat is a true reflection of the unwavering dedication and outstanding talent that we have throughout the entire organization of Fox News Channel,” said CEO Suzanne Scott.
The network’s morning show — FOX & Friends — remains strong, finishing January with an average 1.1 million viewers, making it 35 consecutive months the program has finished first in the 25-54 demographic.
Gresh and Fauria, hosted by Andy Gresh and Christian Fauria, spent time this morning on the topic of Tom Brady, the broadcaster. The WEEI in Boston mid-morning show started off with a clip of Terry Bradshaw from an appearance on Julian Edelman’s podcast Games With Names.
Speaking about Brady’s future as a FOX game analyst, Bradshaw said, “Tom will learn all of this, in time, if he puts the time in. America’s gonna like him. They’re going to love him number one, just because he is Tom Brady. I mean, everybody is waiting and that’s a lot of pressure on him but who can handle it better than Brady?”
Fauria, the two-time Super Bowl champion tight end, responded, “What I disagree with is what Terry Bradshaw said, that everyone is going to love him. I don’t think so at all. I think the love affair right now is Greg Olsen.”
Andy Gresh was quick to remind Fauria who it was they were talking about. “I don’t think so at all,” he said. “Greg Olsen is a nice broadcaster, he’s good at the role, but c’mon now, it’s Tom Brady we are talking about.”
Gresh then offered his breakdown of what he expects from Brady. “I think he is going to be really good at this” he said. “Brady has been putting in a lot of work. He is going to understand how to present information. What will make Tom Brady interesting as a color analyst is the same reason why we want Bill Belichick to go to TV. He’ll explain it form the inside out. There are really only a small handful of people on Earth who really have context and understand the depth of knowledge that both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have. To hear Tom Brady break down plays, through another quarterback’s eyes, that’s fascinating to me.”
Fauria said he didn’t necessarily think Brady wouldn’t be good at the job, he just believes the audience will be skeptical. “You’re assuming people are just going to accept him,” he said. “I am saying they are going to be resistent and he is going to have to win them over. I think he is going to have to massively win (people) over.”
Gresh rounded out his thoughts saying, “He is going to be better than Romo right away and people will quickly forget about Greg Olsen. Again, it’s Tom Brady. Plus, he’s beautiful.”
Sactown Sports 1140 AM (KHTK), has announced the appointment of Jose Gonzalez as their new Program Director, effective February 12th.
“I look forward to contributing to the success of Sactown Sports and creating memorable experiences for our listeners,” Gonzalez said in a release from station owner Bonneville International.
Gonzalez previously served as Program Director and hosted mornings for the past three years at 1430 AM and 790 ESPN Radio in Fresno, California.
“Jose is no stranger to the art of crafting exceptional sports radio experiences,” said Steve Cottingim, SVP and Market Manager for Bonneville Sacramento. “His dynamic leadership and commitment to delivering top-notch content made him the obvious choice for this position.”
The Sactown Sports lineup Gonzalez will now lead consists of The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross in morning drive, followed by Allen Stiles and Chris Watkins in middays with Stiles & Watkins, along with The Drive Guys with Kevin Gleason and Kyle Draper in afternoons.
Many in the news media and journalism face constant charges of political bias in their reporting. WCBS 880 morning anchor Wayne Cabot prefers it that way.
During an appearance on the Bartholomewtown podcast with WPRO’s Bill Bartholomew, Cabot said he actually enjoys when he’s challenged on reporting or news selections.
“I like the fact that people will challenge what we do and they should. And the fact that we’ve been accused, and I personally have been accused, of being left wing and right wing tells me maybe I’m finding the right course somewhere,” admitted Wayne Cabot. “We’ve always been non-political, a-political as much as that is possible.
“None of us has no bias. We’ve all grown up with family that we’ve learned from, friends, schools on the elementary and high school level to whatever college we went, to whatever town we lived in. Even just going on the air and giving the most unbiased coverage of any story possible is still biased because hey, this is the story that I chose to put on first.”
The WCBS 880 anchor continued by adding that bias is something we all inherently have, but fighting it is another matter.
“Hopefully, you’ll find people who’ve been doing this long enough, or have enough of an insight that you’ll agree with their general editorial presentation, but nothing is without bias. Of course, there’s obvious left and right-wing bias, which you do everything you can to avoid. I’ve got a political point of view. I make sure that I listen to other political points of view, as distasteful as I can find them sometimes, especially on talk radio. And I find it very instructive because I want to challenge my belief system. I want to challenge what I think are the facts.
And it’s a crazy world now where we have more than one set of facts, but it does seem that way. Sometimes what I believe are the facts, I’m challenged on. Clearly there’s only one set of facts, but you can cherry-pick anything to suit your presentation and your point of view. That’s where the discipline and training and experience come into play. You kind of don’t fall for those traps or try very hard not to.”
