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Shannon Sharpe: We’re ‘Disney Unplugged’ on ESPN ‘First Take’

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ESPN’s morning debate show First Take is coming off a week where it notched its most-watched episode of all-time, averaging 1.5 million viewers on the Monday following the Dallas Cowboys’ being eliminated from the playoffs. Featured commentator and executive producer Stephen A. Smith discussed the contest, along with the other NFL playoff games, and took revelry in the despair of Cowboys fans. Smith was joined by Shannon Sharpe, the analyst he compelled ESPN to sign upon his departure from Undisputed on FOX Sports 1, along with show host Molly Qerim. Throughout the week, various additional contributors appear on the air, including Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears, Kimberley A. Martin and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, all of whom have become part of the fabric of the show.

While First Take is centered on sports debate, there are frequent discussions that pertain to the commentators themselves, such as their clothing ensemble and other projects. In addition to appearing on First Take every Monday and Tuesday morning, Sharpe also hosts several podcasts with The Volume, the sports media company founded by FOX Sports 1 host Colin Cowherd. Whether it is on Club Shay Shay or Nightcap with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, Sharpe has found a way to create compelling content that draws an audience. A recent interview he conducted with actor/comedian Katt Williams was viewed more than 32 million times on YouTube in its first four days and was recently portrayed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

Smith revealed that he has been watching the skit every morning before First Take, with Qerim corroborating that he saw him doing so while in the makeup chair on Tuesday morning. Preceding that discussion, however, was Smith’s choice of verbiage to describe Patrick Mahomes if he wins the upcoming AFC Championship Game and sends the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl. Qerim subsequently banned Smith for using the terminology, conveying that she would activate an eject button if she had one at her disposal.

“This is Disney Unplugged, Molly,” Sharpe said on First Take‘s Tuesday show. “We’re Disney Unplugged; that’s what we are, Stephen A. We’re Disney Unplugged right now.”

“This isn’t you and Ochocinco late night,” Qerim replied. “This isn’t him on YouTube. Let’s keep it classy.”

After Smith exclaimed that he liked Sharpe’s idea for the show, he proceeded to call Nightcap a “big time” production and commended Sharpe and Johnson for their work on the program. With the growth of Sharpe’s podcasts in partnership with The Volume, First Take continues to experience success in the ratings, evidenced through its monthly gains in average viewership and its most-watched year with an average of 496,000 viewers per show.

Dan Dakich Returns to Radio with Sports Ticket 1430 AM in Indianapolis

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Dan Dakich Returns to Radio with Sports Ticket 1430 AM in Indianapolis

Dan Dakich, who was last heard full-time on the radio in Indianapolis in December, 2022, will return on Monday. Cumulus Media announced today they are adding “The Dan Dakich Show” to the lineup of Sports Ticket 1430 AM (WXNT) from Noon-3 p.m.

Dakich is a former championship basketball player and coach and is also an award-winning radio host and ESPN’S leading Big 10 college basketball analyst.

Dakich starred at Andrean High School in Merrillville, IN, and at Indiana University. Following his playing days, he spent 12 seasons as a coach at IU and in 2008 was briefly the interim head coach for the Hoosiers after ten years as Bowling Green’s head coach.

Dakich hosted “The Dan Dakich Show” on 107.5 The Fan for 14 years and then he took his show to “OutKick Network,” where his show “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” airs Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Darlene Park, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus Indianapolis, said: “Indiana’s very own Dan Dakich returns to the airwaves as opinionated as ever and ready to break down all things sports on Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM every weekday from Noon to 3pm. He is an Indiana sports legend, and we are so excited he is bringing his game to our team. In addition to 1430 AM, sports fans can catch Dan on 99.5 HD2 or the Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM app.

Dan Dakich commented: “Couldn’t be more thrilled to join the fantastic team at Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM. The state of Indiana and I have had a lifetime love affair that extends way beyond sports and sharing that daily is going to, once again, be a blast! Can’t wait to get started as we build Indy’s Sports Ticket 1430 AM into Indy’s go-to home for all things sports.”

Former CBS Sunday Morning Anchor Charles Osgood Dies

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Former CBS Sunday Morning Anchor Charles Osgood Dies

Charles Osgood, who anchored CBS Sunday Morning for 22 years and also hosted a long-running radio vignette series died Tuesday at the age of 91.

Osgood hosted the CBS News program from 1994 until his retirement in 2016. During his tenure leading the program, it reached its highest ratings in three decades and earned three Daytime Emmy Awards as Outstanding Morning Program.

He also hosted The Osgood File radio commentaries during his more than 45-year run at CBS News.

According to his family, his death was related to the dementia he had suffered in recent years.

“To say there’s no one like Charles Osgood is an understatement,” said CBS Sunday Morning executive producer Rand Morrison, in a release from CBS News. “He embodied the heart and soul of Sunday Morning. His signature bow tie, his poetry … just his presence was special for the audience, and for those of us who worked with him. At the piano, Charlie put our lives to music. Truly, he was one of a kind – in every sense.” 

Osgood was succeeded as host of the CBS News program by Jane Pauley, who shared her admiration for his work after learning of his death.

“Watching him at work was a masterclass in communicating. I’ll still think to myself, ‘How would Charlie say it?’, trying to capture the illusive warmth and intelligence of his voice and delivery. I expect I’ll go on trying,” said Pauley. “He was one of the best broadcast stylists and one of the last. His style was so natural and unaffected it communicated his authenticity. He connected with people. Watching him on TV, or listening on the radio, as I did for years, was to feel like you knew him, and he knew you. He brought a unique sensibility, curiosity, and his trademark whimsy to ‘Sunday Morning,’ and it endures.”

WWE President Nick Kahn Explains the Netflix Deal for Raw on ‘Pat McAfee Show’

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WWE President Nick Kahn Explains the Netflix Deal for Raw on ‘Pat McAfee Show’

Pat McAfee and WWE President Nick Khan had a brief conversation about the recent deal between WWE and Netflix that would see Monday Night Raw leave linear television for the first time in 31 years and go to a streaming platform.

On Choosing Netflix as the Best Spot for ‘Raw’

After putting over Khan and former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon for being reliable mentors in the media space, McAfee got right into things and asked Khan why Netflix was the right spot for Monday Night Raw. Netflix will be Raw’s exclusive broadcasting home for at least the next five years and can be where it lives for up to the next 20 years.

Khan says that RAW never had to live exclusively on television or an NBCUniversal network, citing past examples of RAW and WWE’s other primary television show SmackDown airing on TNN and UPN, respectively.

“Once the deal with SmackDown closed, which will shift SmackDown over from FOX to USA starting this October 1, we hyper-focused on RAW,” Khan said. “It was a robust marketplace, we had a number of meetings, there was a lot of interest, there were a number of offers, and at the end of the day, to be the first movers with Netflix live on a consistent basis…we think it’s a great deal.”

The Reaction From WWE Internally

McAfee then asked Khan how internal stakeholders took the move. Khan responded, “overwhelmingly positive.”

“If you look at the streaming wars, Netflix continues to sit at the top of that perch, so it’s an entity everybody, certainly in our sphere, subscribes to,” Khan said. “We think it’s a great way to grow the WWE audience while growing the Netflix subscriber base.”

On The Future of Premium Live Events

Khan mentions nothing much other than that Premium Live Events air currently on Peacock and will seemingly continue to do so. WWE’s deal with Peacock expires in 2026 and, according to The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand, whoever wants WWE’s PLEs will have to pony up.

On Whether the Show Will Remain on Monday Nights

Lastly, McAfee asked Khan if a rumored move off Monday nights was in the cards for RAW. Throughout the show’s 31 years, the show has regularly aired on Monday nights, despite competition from Monday Night Football and other live sports. Khan says for now, the show is safe on Monday nights, but things can change.

“At this moment in time, it remains Monday Night Raw,” Khan said, “but keep in mind we have ten and a half months until this deal is up and running.” Khan then mentions all the competition RAW faces as a Monday night program, between “the proliferation of gambling with Monday Night Football,” plus an enhanced MNF package, the “ManningCast,” NFL playoff games, college football and basketball national championship games and more. Despite this, Khan reports that RAW still did a 0.6 in the key 18-49 demos against the College Football Playoffs.

In closing, Khan said, “If we stay on Mondays, it’ll work, if we move it to another day, we think it will work too.”

Mark Arum: I’m Fascinated By Stanley Tumbler Story

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Mark Arum: I’m Fascinated By Stanley Tumbler Story

The Stanley 1913 company has seen a groundswell of sales for its 40-ounce tumblers, leading some news stories to share that the large cups have been subject to being stolen around the nation. 95.5 WSB host Mark Arum believes the topic is a fascinating one for news/talk radio circles.

“This story fascinates me,” The Mark Arum Show host said, noting that the cups have seen a resurgence in popularity due to new exclusive colors being released at Target and Starbucks, among other new promotional moves.

However, it isn’t necessarily the story of the Tumblers and their newfound popularity that he finds so enthralling. It’s the shift in the company’s focus that has him interested in the story.

“What fascinates me about this story, and we can all learn a lesson from this…Stanley has been around for 110 years. They’re basically geared toward blue-collar workers, outdoorsman lunchboxes, you know,” said Arum. “They’ve been making it and they were the green. They were traditionally great. And they were doing fine. They were making $70 million in sales from their Hammertone green products, which is great. They’ve been around for 100 years, and they make a fine product.

“This woman who was — I don’t want to call her an influencer — but she basically had a network of folks. And there was a new design to the Stanley, instead of the old green one, it was this new one that fit in a cup holder, whatever, and she loved them. And she was telling all her friends about them. Stanley wasn’t moving enough of these cups. So they were going to discontinue it and she wrote (the CEO) a letter.

‘You can’t discontinue this. People love them.’ So they cut a deal with her. They made 5,000 of them for her. And she basically risked her life savings on this and bought 5,000 of the Stanley tumblers, rolling dice thinking that her fan base was going to want this. And they did. They sold out almost immediately. So this CEO’s like ‘Well, listen, we’ve got a market here.’ And so he started, strategically going after influencers. They were averaging $70 million a year in sales which is no small potatoes. That’s amazing. They’re up to now $700 million a year.”

Mark Arum argued that the lesson everyone should take away from the anecdote is that you can be a great employee, teammate, spouse, or whatever role you need to play, but you can always evolve, get better, and find new ways to contribute and make an impact.

Kevin Patrick No Longer Part of WWE SmackDown Commentary Team on FOX

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Aaron Varble of SEScoops is reporting Kevin Patrick will no longer be a part of the SmackDown commentary team for WWE on FOX. No replacement has been named as of yet and Varble says a source in the company told him, “It just wasn’t working out.”

Patrick, whose real name is Kevin Egan, is a former soccer player from Dublin, Ireland who has also been the voice of the Atlanta United home games on Apple TV+.

Patrick started with WWE in 2021 and was a commentator on RAW from October, 2022 until he moved over to SmackDown in 2023.

SmackDown is getting set to move from FOX to USA Network in October of this year.

Mark Simone: There’s No Future in Ad-Supported Journalism

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Mark Simone: There’s No Future in Ad-Supported Journalism

Sports Illustrated is currently undergoing a potential demise, and that has left many questioning the future of journalism if a brand that strong can’t survive. 710 WOR host Mark Simone believes there’s a simple recipe for media success in 2024.

Simone argued that any media outlet attempting to create revenue solely from digital advertising is likely fighting a losing battle, during The Mark Simone Show Monday.

“A lot of people say that when they went to the internet, they didn’t do subscriptions. You got to have a subscription model. You can’t do it for free,” said Simone. “The problem is if you try to just be an internet magazine/newspaper, and try to make money off the ads, you can’t because when you go to the website to read the New York Post, or The New York Times or whatever, nobody ever clicks on the ads.

“You never look at the ads, you never click on them. You never do anything with the ads. So there’s no money in them and the advertisers all know this. There’s no money in ads on the websites. So the subscription model is the only thing that works.”

Mark Simone continued by predicting that both the New York Post and The New York Times will cease printing physical copies of their publications in the next 12 months.

“There’s a print edition of the New York Post. They still print that print edition, and that has about 80,000 people that read it. The website version has about three and a half million, and they’re all paying subscriptions,” said Simone. “So that’s where all the money is. It’s a similar ratio for all the other stuff. The New York Times and these print editions will all be gone in a year. They’re only printing right now for a handful of senior citizens who don’t know how to use the internet. So they’ll all be gone pretty soon.”

Lawsuit from KYW Anchor Carol MacKenzie Against Audacy Halted After Bankruptcy Filing

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Late last year, KYW morning news anchor Carol MacKenzie filed an age discrimination lawsuit against Audacy. However, the lawsuit has been put on hold after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month.

After Audacy filed for its prepackaged bankruptcy in a Houston court, the company filed a motion for an automatic stay of MacKenzie’s hearing, according to Inside Radio. The court halted all proceedings on the case. Audacy will then have up to 10 days after the company is reorganized or the stay is lifted to begin the proceedings.

According to MacKenzie’s original filing, she alleges she was continually paid between $20,000-30,000 less than her male co-workers for the first several years of her employment with KYW. After joining the station in 2003, MacKenzie claims she asked for a raise in 2010, but was told by management her new salary couldn’t eclipse that of Ed Abrams.

Carol MacKenzie also alleges that during the COVID-19 pandemic, she agreed to reduce her salary by $20,000, while the company hired anchor Denise Nakano at a salary that was $20,000 more than Mackenzie’s.

MacKenzie has remained on the air at KYW as the lawsuit played out, solo anchoring the 5 AM hour while being joined by Ian Bush for the 6-9 AM daypart.

New Jersey 101.5 Plans Town Hall on Financial Future

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New Jersey 101.5 Plans Town Hall on Financial Future

New Jersey 101.5 has announced plans for a town hall called “Securing Your Financial Future”.

On Thursday, January 25th at 7 PM ET, the station will host a panel of analysts, financial planning experts, real estate specialists, and college planners to help listeners plot what their wealth management looks like.

The station’s Eric Scott will lead the discussion, and he knows how important the topic is.

“So many New Jersey residents fear they will never be able to afford to retire,” Scott said. “This program will help New Jersey residents make smart decisions and ask the right questions as they plan for their future.”

Joining the program will be President of Professional Planning Services Chris Lester, Owner and Principal of Compass Wealth Management Leslie Beck, President of Ecliptic Financial Advisors John Tillman, and Vice President of Mortgage Lending for Guaranteed Rate Scott Lief.

The program will be available on New Jersey 101.5, with a live video simulcast being hosted on Facebook, and the station’s YouTube channel.

Greg Olsen on ESPN Chicago: Goal is to Call the Best Games at the Highest Level as Long as I Can

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Greg Olsen on ESPN Chicago: Goal is to Call the Best Games at the Highest Level as Long as I Can

Greg Olsen of FOX Sports was a guest yesterday afternoon with Waddle & Silvy on ESPN Chicago. While the group discussed the ongoing NFL playoffs and Olsen’s games he has called for FOX, the conversation eventually turned to Olsen’s future and the prospect of Tom Brady taking over his chair.

Olsen, who was drafted by and played for the Bears at the beginning of his career, told Tom Waddle and Marc “Silvy” Silverman about Brady, “My respect for him and all that is never going to change. I understand the situation, I understand him looming over the job. From the moment I took it, I knew that would come with the territory and I was ok with that.

I was confident in myself that I could take advantage of this opportunity for as long as it lasted. We went in to it thinking it would be one year, ended up being two years. I got twice as much and we will see if there is a third. We will see what happens.”

As far as what will happen with Olsen when Brady begins his broadcasting career, he was asked about whether or not he would move to the second team on FOX or explore free agency.

“The thing about this job is that there are only so many seats,” Olsen said. “There’s not an endless supply of top jobs. There’s a reason they’re so highly sought after and there’s a reason certain guys occupy them. The reality is you really only have the opportunities of what’s out there.

I think I can do this at a high level and FOX has always been great giving me those opportunities and allowing me to climb. When Joe and Troy left it created an opening that maybe people didn’t anticipate just a year or two before. You just never know what’s out there, you never know how the musical chairs will die down. That’s all the stuff we are going to figure out this offseason.”

As for what Olsen is hoping for, he said, “My goal is to call the best games at the highest level as long as I can. That was my goal when I came in to it three years ago and that remains my goal after doing it for two years and calling a Super Bowl and some of the highest rated games in NFL history over the last two years. That’s my goal, and we will see how the rest will shake out, it’s kind of out of my control.”

As for whether or not Olsen would conisder a studio job over calling games, he added, “Calling games is not for everybody. It’s challenging, it’s fun, it’s a lot of work during the week, it’s a lot of prep and then when that game unfolds, you’re following a live sporting event for three hours with 40 million people telling you that you’re either good or bad by the minute. I enjoy that part of it, I enjoy the rush of live games in stadiums and live audiences. I would never say no to anything but I think my love and desire to pursue this right now is calling games. Obviously if one of those seats ever became available, you’d be crazy not to look into it.”

Olsen and his partner Kevin Burkhardt are scheduled to call this weekend’s NFC Championship game between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers.

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