FS1’s First Things First capitalized on an exhilarating NFL Divisional Round and notched its most-watched live episode in the show’s history. The Monday, Jan. 22 edition of First Things Firstamassed 335,000 viewers, the most ever for a live edition of the program.
This follows FTF’s stellar 2023, where its viewership skyrocketed. Its year-over-year viewership rose 82 percent from 2022 and posted its most-watched month ever in Dec. 2023 up 72 percent from Dec. 2022. It also recorded 16 consecutive months of double-digit year-over-year growth. Lastly, 49 of FTF’s 50 most-watched telecasts aired in 2023.
Doc Rivers has agreed to a deal with the Milwaukee Bucks to serve as the organization’s next head coach, according to a report from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski. Rivers enters the role less than a season removed from his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers, during which he compiled a 154-82 record, but was unable to lead his team past the Eastern Conference semifinals. Milwaukee currently holds the second-best record in the Eastern Conference (30-13), but it still fired its first-year head coach Adrian Griffin nonetheless.
Sources told ESPN that the sides were negotiating late on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning to come to terms on a deal. Rivers, who had reportedly consulted with the Bucks during the season, will now look to attain his second NBA championship as a coach after a 13-year career as an active player.
The hiring will lead to questions regarding ESPN’s lead NBA booth, which is slated to call the NBA Finals this June on ABC in the penultimate year of The Walt Disney Company’s existing media rights deal. As part of talent layoffs over the summer, the network let go of longtime analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy, reshuffling its commentary teams. Jackson and Van Gundy worked with play-by-play announcer Mike Breen to call a record 15 NBA Finals together.
Breen has worked with Rivers and co-analyst Doris Burke throughout the year, including calling the inaugural In-Season Tournament. ESPN has yet to divulge plans for the future of its lead NBA booth, which has several marquee matchups remaining on the docket before transitioning into its broadcast of the playoffs.
Ahead of the regular season, ESPN named a No. 2 NBA broadcast team of Ryan Ruocco, Richard Jefferson and JJ Redick that has called several games throughout the regular season. ESPN’s head of event and studio production, Dave Roberts, called the broadcasters “a potential making of a succession plan” prior to the season while addressing the media.
Former Golden State Warriors general manager and four-time NBA champion Bob Myers joined ESPN before the season, appearing on NBA Countdown and calling several games. Additionally, the network added various former NBA players in different roles, including Andre Iguodala, Austin Rivers and Scott Perry. The network also extended two-time WNBA champion Becky Hammon and former WNBA head coach Stephanie White.
Longtime radio business writer and editor Paul Heine has announced he will exit his role at Inside Radio and head into retirement.
Heine — who has served as Managing Editor at Inside Radio since 2015 — will step down as the outlet’s editorial leader in April.
Paul Heine joined Inside Radio in September 2009 as Senior Editor, before being elevated to Managing Editor in June 2015.
“Paul is a difficult manager to replace. His knowledge of the radio industry runs deep, as does his affection for radio,” says Inside Radio Publisher and Manager Gene McKay. “Overseeing a well-known industry-leading publication like Inside Radio is a demanding job, but I could always count on Paul to find accurate and interesting stories for our readers.”
After working in radio at stations in Rochester and Buffalo, Heine began his industry trade career in 1985, working for Radio & Records, Billboard Radio Monitor, and the Friday Morning Quaterback.
“I’m calling this a ‘semi-retirement.’ While I’m pulling back from full-time hours, I still plan to be involved in the industry in the future,” Heine said.
Stephen A. Smith was a guest on The Howard Stern Show this week and talked about his aspirations beyong what he is doing now with ESPN and on The Stephen A. Smith Show he airs on YouTube.
Smith first talked about building out his own studio, which he paid for himself, to the tune of close to $2 million. Stern noted he had told Smith not to make that investment himself, but rather to get someone to pay the tab.
“For me, personally, it was just very important to establish a level of independence,” Smith said. “Obviously I am incredibly happy at Disney and ESPN and the career that I’ve had there, but I have aspirations that extend beyond that. For me, to have my own studio, to be able to make the kind of investment in myself – it was a statement, per se, just in my mind that I’m movin’ on up and that I have future aspirations that extend far beyond the corridors of ESPN. I always want to be a part of it, hopefully that’ll be the case, but I definitely have aspirations that extend beyond that and I wanted to send that message and I wanted the world to know that.”
Smith talked about his relationships with Disney CEO Bob Iger, noting he had spent time at Iger’s house for a few hours of conversation, and also ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. Stern asked Smith how he was allowed to do his own podcast, given his employment status with ESPN. Smith said it was a handshake deal he and Pitaro had discussed and they eventually carved it out of his agreement. Smith said Pitaro “remembered what he said to me and kept his word.”
Stephen A. Smith found himself in the news recently as a feud between he and Jason Whitlock played out publicly. One of the things Whitlock accused Smith of was lying in his memoir, Straight Shooter.
Smith told Stern about the fued, “Nothing is perfect. I have one of the best jobs in America. I work for one of the best companies and some of the best bosses on this planet. I’m making good money, life is kind of good. Why do I need to write a book where I am going to tell lies? Are you kidding me?”
Smith did admit, however, that dealing with adversity is something he thrives on.
“It’s a sick trait that I have, that I will openly admit, I love adversity because I find out who my true friends and loved ones are when adverse circumstances hit,” he said. “See, I know the hits are going to come because when you’re at or near the top, they’re coming for you. People like to swing up, I get it.”
When Authentic Brands Group terminated the licensing agreement with The Arena Group that allowed the company to publish Sports Illustrated in print and digital form, there was subsequent fallout that resulted in staff members losing their jobs. The Arena Group, after it received a notice of termination including a $45 million fee, told Sports Illustrated employees that it would be laying off staff members working on the brand.
Some employees lost their jobs immediately and others were given 90 days’ notice, but both scenarios concerned the Sports Illustrated Guild. The entity reaffirmed its commitment to fighting for fair treatment of its members and to maintain the standard the publication has established over the years.
While the future of the publication is somewhat ambiguous, there is an ostensible consensus that the publication is on a precipitous decline. The news has elicited discussions on various sports talk programs of late with broadcasters providing their opinions on the matter and sharing their memories of the venerated sports magazine. Chad Finn, sports media columnist for the Boston Globe, penned an article about the changing nature of the outlet, the title of which was articulated on Wednesday morning by 98.5 The Sports Hub co-host Fred Toucher. From there, the discussion began on the relevance of Sports Illustrated in the 21st-century media ecosystem.
“I don’t even know what Sports Illustrated does anymore,” co-host Rob ‘Hardy’ Poole said. “We were talking about this the other day – the day of the layoffs. Do they print anything anymore?”
Toucher used to work for CNN/SI, the ephemeral 24-hour sports news network created by Time Warner through combining two of its brands. As a result, he has collected many editions of Sports Illustrated with iconic covers spanning different athletes and sports leagues.
“We got free Sports Illustrateds on Thursdays,” Toucher reminisced. “It was awesome. They just had a big-ass pile of Sports Illustrateds; you could take one. I remember thinking it was cool.”
Thinking back on his time with the company, Toucher feels that he can name the covers off the top of his head. At the same time, he offered a pragmatic sentiment when discussing the resolution of what has occurred with the publication over the ensuing years. Just what will happen to Sports Illustrated remains to be seen, and it indeed serves as a sense of nostalgia for many previous readers. There are people who want the publication to persist through the changing state of media while others are indifferent towards the ultimate outcome.
“…I don’t care at all that they’re not making it anymore, and I don’t think I’m being cool,” Toucher said. “That faded away so grandly. When was the last time – outside of an airport, literally – that you bought a Sports Illustrated; that you had a Sports Illustrated? They stopped delivering it to my house; I don’t even think I had a conversation with them. It just was something that ended up happening.”
“I mean, picking up and looking at a Sports Illustrated, no,” Poole added. “I stopped long before they stopped publishing them.”
Nielsen is set to move several jobs overseas as part of cost-cutting measures as the company begins another round of layoffs.
CEO Karthik Rao told employees Tuesday that the company will make “some tough choices” about the future of some employees, according to Inside Radio.
Nielsen is slated to move several jobs to India, Poland, and Mexico in an effort to limit costs. Nielsen has had employees stationed in Indian for roughly 40 years, with Poland and Mexico becoming new centers for the ratings company.
“As part of this effort, we will transition specific work to our GCCs, which means some of our global workforce will be leaving Nielsen as a result,” Rao told staffers. “We’ve been working with leaders over the last few weeks to determine which work will be transitioned to our GCCs and as such, which parts of our global workforce will be impacted. This process is expected to take time, and I know the uncertainty can be difficult.”
The upcoming round of layoffs will be the third over the course of the previous 13 months for the company. Last year, it began a round of layoffs to reduce its global workforce by 9% in September, following another round of layoffs that affected hundreds of employees in January of 2023, including upper management and executives.
88.5 WAMU in Washington D.C. has named Michael Tribble its new Chief Content Officer.
Tribble joins the news/talk station from National Geographic, where he has served as Vice President of Multi-Platform Content and Integrated Storytelling. Previous stops in his career include The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), the San Jose Mercury News, the Charlotte Observer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others, according to Inside Radio.
“WAMU is such an extraordinary institution that plays a vital role in the heart of D.C. and the region,” Tribble said in a statement. “I’m honored for the chance to serve this community and excited about forging stronger bonds with our audience and shaping how we connect with the next generation of WAMU fans.”
“Michael has a unique combination of experience as an award-winning strategist for multiplatform storytelling, with a strong background in, and passion for, local journalism,” added GM Erika Pulley-Hayes. “He will be an essential partner in continuing WAMU’s legacy of trust and delivering on our commitment to innovate with audiences wherever they consume media.”
Tribble will begin his duties with the outlet on Monday, January 29th.
Former Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers Badan doesn’t know what lies ahead for her next, but she knows she wants to get out of the sports space.
Ayers Badan was a guest on Varney & Co. on FOX Business on Tuesday promoting her new book out later this year called Nobody Cares About Your Career, and she was asked about what she wants to do next. She didn’t divulge any details about potential new landing spots, but she has an idea of the area of expertise she wants to work in.
“I’m going to find a place to be great at work,” Ayers Badan said. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
“I will want to build something else. I’d like to do something different,” she added. “I’d like to do something not in sports. I’d like to work in lifestyle. I’d like to find a company that either needs a turn-around or would like to be built up.”
Erika Ayers Badan said she thought her nearly 10 years at Barstool went “wonderfully” and that she has no regrets about linking up with Barstool founder Dave Portnoy.
“Dave was the best person I’ve ever worked with, and I will always be a huge champion of Dave’s,” she said.
“I was never bored at Barstool Sports. I’ll tell you that,” she later said.
As for the book, which is out June 11, Ayers said she hopes to pass along a lot of what she’s learned from her entire career, not just at Barstool. She added that she’s found herself in rarified air.
“It’s rare to have a business book written by someone in the midst of their own career,” she said. “And this book comes from my perspective not just at Barstool Sports, but at Yahoo, at AOL, at Microsoft, at a lot of big companies and a lot of startups.”
When Corby Davidson was approached by SportsRadio 96.7 & 1310 The Ticket program director Bruce Gilbert to move to afternoon drive at the turn of the century, he initially declined the offer. After all, Davidson had recently moved into the midday slot working alongside Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell on BaD Radio, a three-hour midday program where he served as the third voice. As time went on, Davidson found that he was becoming comfortable contributing to the show and felt that they were building something unique in the daypart. Even though the drivetime slot would allow him to continue appearing on air, he was somewhat malcontented towards a potential maneuver.
Davidson obliged and joined the program, originally spanning five hours in the daypart due to the departure of Chris Arnold from the neighboring show. At the time, the station was in its fifth year on the air and aimed to established itself in the Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. The afternoon show, titled The Hardline, was attaining high ratings and was beloved by listeners, but its team wanted to add a third voice. Because of their desire, Davidson was reassigned to the time slot, his own wishes notwithstanding.
“It was pretty nerve-wracking at first to be on with those guys, but you learn pretty quickly that, just like before, [to] just kind of be yourself and don’t put too much pressure on yourself and you’ll eventually fit in, and I did,” Davidson said. “It took about a year with those guys before I felt really comfortable.”
Davidson has occupied the afternoon daypart ever since, taking on an elevated role when co-host Greg Williams walked off the show and subsequently resigned. The perception around his exit was ostensibly ambiguous, and the entities came to terms on a settlement several months later. There was considerable interest surrounding the circumstances of the program, but Davidson, co-host Mike Rhyner and producer Danny Bayless ultimately stayed focused on crafting the most effective show possible. Approximately a decade-and-a-half later, The Hardline is continuing to thrive in the locale and appealing to listeners on a daily basis.
“I just always in my mind picture somebody in the car driving and I don’t want them tensed up over anything,” Davidson said. “I want them to be as loose as we are and having a good time with a smile on their face like we are.”
Through consistent ratings success, there have been sweeping changes resulting in a considerable alteration of the programming lineup. From the retirement of Norm Hitzges to tumult in middays, Davidson has persisted and been a constant through it all. In fact, he recently reaffirmed his commitment towards the Cumulus Media-owned station by inking a five-year contract extension. Remaining at The Ticket was an easy decision for Davidson, who started working there as an intern eight months after it took the air as the city’s first all-sports radio station.
“This is the only place when I’m done that I will have ever worked at,” Davidson said. “It was pretty important; for me it was really important that it was going to be the case that this kind of is my legacy that I started here and I’m probably, after five years, going to end it there.”
Davidson intends to step away from The Ticket and sports radio following the conclusion of this deal and is content with the way everything has unfolded. With the evolution of media and integration of digital platforms, he feels that The Ticket may end up being the last great terrestrial radio station. Even so, Davidson has a reverence for the history at the outlet with a cognizance towards innovation and a clear ability to adapt, along with other on-air talent, that has engendered collective longevity.
“We’re in a really good spot right now,” Davidson said. “We’ve got a really good lineup, and I just have confidence that’s just going to continue. We’re in a great town for the format that we have, [and] the guys are all super-talented and driven.”
One thing Davidson asserts he will not do is go elsewhere since he views The Ticket as his proverbial radio home. Even though there are sometimes bad days where Davidson feels he has not had his best performance, his morale remains strong. At the same time, competition in the ratings against other outlets, including Audacy-owned 105.3 The Fan, keeps him driven to demonstrate an effort replete with shrewd preparation, compelling banter and effusive gratitude. When Davidson shows up to work, the commitment to the listening audience and colleagues acts as self-credence for his innate, ambitious spirit.
“I’m not going to say that I’ll be completely done with doing something of this form, but I will never work for another radio station – ever,” Davidson avouched. “That will be done.”
Fortuitous timing and calculated audacity helped Davidson become distinct and stand out in the market, beginning from his time as a college student at the University of North Texas. Outside of taking classes to satisfy his history and English major, Davidson was an avid listener of The Howard Stern Show and noticed the affability therein. Taking inspiration from Stern’s program, he joined the school’s radio station where he was allowed to deliver sports and news updates. Shortly thereafter, he walked into the front door of The Ticket and asked for an internship, officially beginning his professional endeavors in the industry.
“I literally lived up there for about three years straight just trying to learn anything and everything that I could from whoever would talk to me [and] whoever would listen to me, and it was a great place to be at the time – at the radio station early on,” Davidson said. “There’s a lot of turnover, obviously, at a brand-new place that nobody thought would make it, and so it was just [the] right place, right time for me.”
The station provided Davidson with chances to cultivate the versatility and knowledge needed to thrive, performing a wide variety of tasks around the broadcasts. Chris Arnold ultimately took a chance on him when he agreed to allow him to produce his midday show, an invaluable venture that augmented his capabilities.
“He helped me out and let me be on the air, which I hadn’t done any of,” Davidson said. “He was basically saying, ‘Just be yourself and you’ll be cool,’ and so it was a big step for me being able to just kind of shoot the bull with him on the air whenever – really whenever I wanted – and kind of gave me carte blanche to talk to him whenever. That was huge; that was a big step.”
Following a short run on BaD Radio he was tasked to start anew on The Hardline. Benefitting from his producing expertise, Davidson had an idea of how to put a show together that would remain topical and relevant to the audience while also providing a reprieve.
Rhyner remained on The Hardline until 2020 when he left the station and later joined 97.1 The Freak, but the impact he made on the station is evident. Davidson credits him for coming up with his pseudonym, “Cobra,” which he claims is a derivative of his forename. From there, it evolved into “Snake,” which can be perceived as representing an acerbic, over-the-top hosting approach that Rhyner noticed.
Davidson feels that he has evolved as a host and has established and retained a rapport with the listeners. He ensures that nothing is synthetic.
“It’s very hard to carry on a fake persona or a fake personality in this business, I think, and make it work,” Davidson said. “You either are who you are or you’re not, and if you can stay true to yourself, then you’ll have a hell of a lot better shot at making it.”
A distinctive feature of The Ticket is its legion of dedicated P1 listeners, frequently consuming programming and participating in the show. There are numerous ways in which The Hardline interacts with its audience. For example, the program begins with a Helpline in which listeners can evince their feelings about topics, regardless if they are about sports. While these listeners are appreciated, programming across The Ticket has moved away from taking live calls, although it has not repudiated the practice entirely.
“It’s not like we stopped – we’ll take a phone call every now and then – but we would have full segments set aside for it and we just don’t anymore,” Davidson said. “Maybe we like to hear our own heads rattle around a little bit. I don’t know what it was, but the entire station just kind of went away from it.”
The ratings show The Hardline garnered a 10.9 share among Men 25-54 in the most recent Dallas-Fort Worth fall book, finishing first in the marketplace during its daypart. Davidson attributes much of that measurement of success to the P1 listeners and their unwavering loyalty towards the station and its programming.
“Our P1s are hard core,” Davidson said. “They’re hard-core listeners [who] feel like they’re a part of our lives, and we try to make sure that they feel that way.”
On the current iteration of The Hardline, Davidson is working with Dave Lane and reunited with Bob Sturm, two co-hosts he articulates are talented and easy to work with. There is a mutual understanding of their roles and what they bring to the show, alongside producer DJ Ringgenberg. In essence, the professionalism and aptitude of his colleagues assist Davidson with his work as he focuses on providing contributions to enhance the overall program.
“It just goes that they’re just good dudes that are good at what they do, and so it makes my life a hell of a lot easier knowing that,” Davidson said. “They work really hard at what they do, and there was a time there for a while where I was working with someone who wasn’t working too hard, and so it’s a good change when dudes are pot committed and all-in.”
Working with two co-hosts on the air in a show predicated on a lack of structure makes it imperative for Davidson to help extrapolate the strengths of his colleagues. When the show is over, Davidson hopes that everyone is jovial and upbeat with an excitement to return the next day without internal controversy.
“You want to give everybody their voice and their take,” Davidson said. “Be respectful of that, be respectful of the crew 100% [and] have a relationship with those guys. Coming from where I did really at the very bottom of the radio station to the start, it gives you quite a bit of perspective.”
From the beginning of his time with The Ticket, program director Jeff Catlin has been a constant presence at the station. Davidson has a professional working relationship with Catlin, but their history spans back to when they were children. Both Davidson and Catlin attended high school together and knew each other even earlier in their youth. In having him as a leader, Davidson emphasizes that Catlin has a strong understanding of the business. As it stands, he has made several key hires at the station that have presumably impacted the end product and bottom line.
“He’s got a good handle on things and a good feel for what we need,” Davidson said of Catlin. “Most importantly, he’s one of those guys that’s totally in the bunker with us.”
Catlin helps decipher the ratings and communicates with talent about the significance of various metrics, emphasizing their place as hallmarks of success. Even though Davidson divulged that the station was No. 1 in prime hours for the entirety of last year, he also acknowledged that there are other tools from which to adjudicate and assess the product.
“We always had this underdog mentality from the moment the radio station started. Even though it’s been a crazy run of success, we’ve kind of kept our mentality that way that we’re still kind of the little underdog with a weak signal and all that, and he’s all about that and so am I,” Davidson said, referencing Catlin. “I think that keeps the competitive edge going, and he stresses that quite a bit.”
The success of the program and loyalty of Davidson made it seem like his return was a natural resolution to the pending expiration of his contract. Without an agent or a lawyer with him in negotiations, Davidson represented himself and formally committed to the station for the next five years. He felt comfortable taking this approach because of the rapport he has built with management and desire to continue in his role.
“I just went in there and said, ‘Look – you want me here; I want to be here. Let’s make it fair,’ and that was really it,” Davidson said. “I have a good relationship with him and I shoot him pretty straight and he does me and so we both know that. The whole process was really, really painless.”
As he was assimilating in the industry, Davidson remembers being broke for a prolonged period of time, but he was indifferent towards the matter since he was enjoying his occupation. Throughout his career, he feels he has been in the right place at the right time, but also exhibited patience during the journey. Davidson has immense confidence in the re-crafted lineup at the station, believing it puts the outlet in a good spot that will lead to additional triumphs in the future.
The Ticket will be the only radio station Davidson works for, he stated, revealing that he will likely step aside at the end of his new five-year deal. Outside of the outlet though, he is not closing the door for other opportunities as the modern media ecosystem continues to change based on consumer preferences, financial projections and variations in delivery platforms. Regardless of the means by which consumers engage with content though, Davidson is certain that sports talk as a format will persist.
“People are insatiable when it comes to this stuff, and we’re all lucky to be a part of it in one form or another,” Davidson said. “We’re lucky that there is an industry – whether it’s doing it; covering it; whatever – we’re all really, really fortunate to be a part of it because in the end, it is fun.”
Stephen A. Smith has noticed that people are lumping Shannon Sharpe in with the new media crowd after his interview with comedian Katt Williams, but Stephen A. thinks it’s a bit more nuanced than that.
On The Stephen A. Smith Show on Monday, Smith dove deeper into the new media label, going back to Draymond Green coining the phrase with his podcast.
Stephen A. Smith said the new media label on Sharpe’s interview is part of this belief where some facts get challenged because of a lack of a proper perspective.
“You have conventional media, usually consisting of scribes, pundits, commentators, etc. who never played the game on the elite level (Draymond Green’s) obviously played the game at,” Smith said. “Therefore we’re absent of a perspective, devoid of the kind of content they’re capable of providing because they’re in the locker rooms, they’re wearing the uniforms, they’re actually experiencing some of the things that we chronicle. We’re not the ones doing that. So what would we know?
“Their definition of facts gets challenged by folks like Green as being false as opposed to factual,” he added.
Smith said he would refute that practice considering many in the old guard of media have their reliable sources, which are typically in the know in the locker room.
“True reporters, true insiders, get the information from the actual sources,” he said. “So just because you’re saying it yourself now, doesn’t mean that they were wrong to say what they said in the past if they got it from the sources before they disseminated that information. The information is still the information.”
Smith pointed out that Sharpe has gotten some blowback for his laid-back style of interview and lack of pressing questions, leading to Sharpe to come out and say he isn’t a journalist. Stephen A. said while he isn’t a journalist per se, new media seems to be a label that fits.
“But the reason why it’s applicable here when we talk about a cultural phenomenon is because I don’t recall an article, I don’t recall an interview on television, I don’t recall a commentator or a pundit speaking on a particular issue or having somebody speak on it and drawing over 50 million views. 50 million!” he said. “We’re talking all-time record.”
“When that’s our reality and we start talking about new media, well what does that mean ladies and gentlemen?” Smith continued. “You know what it means? It means something very simple. People are not allowing you to define what media is to them any longer. They’re telling you what it is to them.”
Smith concluded the point by saying you can debate the merits of what Katt Williams said and attack Shannon for not asking probing follow-up questions, but the important thing is that the viewers were able to get what they want out of it.
“What the American public at the very least is showing you and telling you is that what matters to them most is their truth. They don’t give a shit about the facts,” he said. “They care about what they believe based on what you’ve disseminated. They’re looking for dialogue, they’re looking for water cooler conversation. They’re looking for a discussion to have amongst themselves as opposed to truth.”
