As news came down today that after nearly 70 years, the entire staff of Sports Illustrated was notified their jobs were being eliminated, many in sports media shared their thoughts.
Yesterday, The Arena Group alertedstaff members, confirming that owner Authentic Brands Group had revoked the Sports Illustrated license from them.
If you are older, you knew exactly what day Sports Illustrated showed up in the mailbox. Found this just last week and it took me back to a time when the team was great, they were called something different and if your team made the cover, it was the greatest thing ever. RIP SI. pic.twitter.com/z4li784b8x
As a kid, I used to wait by the mailbox every Thursday for my Sports Illustrated to arrive. Before the internet, Sunday Ticket, or 24-hour sports news, it was how we stayed connected. Today's news is awful. Heartbreaking.
soulless suits ruined an American sports institution and for what? nothing. first became a subscriber in 1996. highlight of every week was reading SI cover-to-cover after school. still have boxes and boxes of them everywhere. sad, sad day. https://t.co/sqPW1sJwtx
Authentic Brands Group has owned the magazine and website since 2019 and sold the publishing rights to Arena Group, however, it is being reported they missed a payment which led to the revocation. Arena also oversees TheStreet, Parade and Men’s Journal.
Don’t blame this on the state of media.
Blame it on failure to buy in to embracing how the game has evolved. https://t.co/gZYv3AKGHw
Horrible to hear about all the layoffs/firings that are happening today at Sports Illustrated. It was THE standard forever when it came to sports journalism.
This sucks. It was a dream of every young writer to work at SI. Some of us weren't good enough and were just loyal readers. What a terrible day. https://t.co/TTJ9kRD2k1
Monumental Sports Network will be airing eight live basketball games on Saturday, Jan. 20 as part of its “Basketball Day in the DMV” presented by CarMax. The annual event started last year and features games from high school and college teams across the region, concluding with a matchup between the Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST.
Throughout the day, select boys and girls basketball teams from Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia will be featured on the regional sports network. As constructed, the schedule will include four games emanating from South Lakes High School in Reston, Va. for the Capitol Hoops Challenge. An additional game on the docket will be broadcast live from Capital One Arena ahead of the Wizards’ home matchup later that night.
The high school games will be produced and aired by Monumental Sports Network itself at no cost for the schools. These broadcasts will also contain professional broadcast teams containing a play-by-play announcer, color commentator and sideline reporter. Some of the on-air talent set to participate include Wes Hall, Chase Hughes, Jimmy Patsos and Christy Winters-Scott.
Consumers can watch the game utilizing a valid subscription on the Monumental Sports Network mobile application or through its website. More than 3 million households are in the Monumental Sports Network broadcast footprint, providing a distinctive opportunity for athletes to demonstrate their on-court abilities en masse.
“The Greater Washington region has a rich basketball tradition at all levels and we are honored to showcase all our local hoops talent during ‘Basketball Day in the DMV,’” Friday Abernethy, general manager of Monumental Sports Network, said in a statement. “While many people are familiar with Monumental Sports Network because of our professional sports team coverage of the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics, elevating local sports and providing a platform for our talented local athletes is a core value for our organization and we are proud to use our new network and digital assets to foster a sense of community at all levels of athletics across our region.”
Barrett Sports Media has learned the commentary assignments for the games preceding the Wizards-Spurs matchup.
Start Time (EST)
Game Information
Away Team
Home Team
Commentators
9 a.m.
Boys High School Basketball
Sandy Spring (MD)
Good Counsel (MD)
Bryan Albin; Christy Winters-Scott; Jimmy Patsos; Jordan Giorgio
11 a.m.
Boys High School Basketball
Largo (MD)
South Lakes (VA)
Bryan Albin; Christy Winters-Scott; Jordan Giorgio
1 p.m.
Girls High School Basketball
Bullis (MD)
Holy Child (MD)
Dei Lynam; Tony Massenburg; Wes Hall
2 p.m.
Women’s College Basketball (Monumental Plus channel)
Saint Louis
George Washington
Byron Kerr; Abe Rothstein
2:45 p.m.
Boys High School Basketball
St. John’s College (DC)
Bishop O’Connell (VA)
Brent Harris; Ronny Thompson; Chase Hughes
4 p.m.
Men’s College Basketball (Monumental Plus channel)
Towson
Campbell
Spiro Morekas; Ben Rosenbaum
4:30 p.m.
Boys High School Basketball
Hayfield (VA)
Patriot (VA)
Brent Harris; Ronny Thompson; Chase Hughes
When the Wizards take the court for warmups, the team will don “Behan Strong” shirts, honoring former St. John’s High School basketball coach Pat Behan. The gesture will also help raise awareness about his fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), with shirts being auctioned off to raise money in his name for Compassionate Care ALS. These funds will be utilized to support those diagnosed with ALS, along with their families, healthcare providers and communities.
Monumental Sports Network announced partnerships with George Washington University, the University of Richmond and Towson University to air live college basketball games during the year. The network also serves as the broadcast home of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals and Washington Mystics, along with the Capital City Go-Go.
Jon Marks, who left Audacy station Sports Radio 94 WIP-FM Philadelphia where he co-hosted afternoons, claims he lost his weekend job at CBS Sports Radio after he commented about Audacy’s financial situation on the podcast Crossing Broadcast. Audacy manages the network for parent company Paramount.
During his YouTube show on Thursday, Marks had Kevin Kinkead from CrossingBroad.com on with him and referred back to his appearance on the show.
“After I went on Crossing Broadcast…and I talked candidly about leaing WIP,” Marks said. “In an effort to explain the financials of the currrent radio business, I had said that Audacy was $1.9 billion in debt and they’re not paying people like they once did and they’re losing money on a quarterly basis, so it’s a mattter of if, not when, they’re going to declare for bankruptcy.”
Marks said he “almost immediately heard from Audacy that they were very unhappy, at the corporate level, regarding that line and the interview that I did.”
Marks said he received a call from Audacy EVP/Head of Programming Jeff Sottolano letting him know he was being terminated. “At the time I was doing CBS Sprots Radio, I was doing the national shifts on the weekend,” he said. “I am no longer doing CBS Sports Radio because I was terminated by the company following the interview.”
Marks seemed prepared to be let go and when asked how he felt about it said, “I deserved it. I wanted to be honest and candid about it. I didn’t rip the company…I was very fair, I spoke very highly of everybody who worked at WIP…I was just talking about the financials of being in the radio business today.”
Tiffany Cross departed MSNBC more than a year ago and is now speaking out about her exit, putting some of the bigger personalities on the network on blast.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Cross said she ran afoul of Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough, which is something she didn’t know was an unwritten rule.
“There’s an unspoken rule that you’re not supposed to disagree with Joe, and I didn’t get that memo,” Cross said.
Tiffany Cross was often the subject of intense criticism from right-wing commentators and radio hosts for her opinions on race, politics, and culture. One high-profile example was then Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused the MSNBC host of hoping for a “Rwandan-style race war”. Cross was disheartened when the network failed to back her in the face of the criticism.
“After this, the network did not issue a statement the way they had for some of my white colleagues who had also been targeted by MAGA extremists,” she said. “Instead, executives spoke to me and instructed me that I could not respond to Tucker Carlson at all, and then they began to scrutinize my show and every little thing I wrote.”
Cross said after her contract wasn’t renewed at the end of 2022, MSNBC President Rashida Jones went on a media tour attacking the former host.
“The network began attacking me,” Cross said. “They planted hit pieces in the press. The president of the network began a bizarre, unhinged tour where she was on damage control; I don’t know what she was trying to do.”
Joe Pags has announced a multi-year extension to remain with iHeartMedia’s 1200 WOAI in San Antonio until 2026.
Pags has spent the past 18 years at the San Antonio news/talk station hosting The Joe Pags Show, which is also syndicated by Compass Media Networks to more than 160 stations across the nation. However, his agreement with WOAI is separate from his current deal with Compass Media Networks.
“It has been an absolute honor to be on WOAI for 18 years now and I’m so thankful to continue talking with the great people of San Antonio and beyond for years to come! Growing with this community and with iHeart has been an incredible ride,” said Pags. “Being on this station has given me the opportunity to reach the kind of national audience I only dreamed would happen one day. I remain driven and motivated to produce the best show I can every day – and am thrilled it will continue from WOAI.”
“We’re ecstatic to announce Joe Pags’s commitment to WOAI. His dynamic voice has become synonymous with insightful, spirited broadcasting,” added Senior VP of Programming Jason McCollim. “This contract is more than an agreement; it’s a promise of continued excellence and engagement with our beloved San Antonio community and the great state of Texas.”
Larry Elder had a long and storied news/talk radio career, leaving him as a finalist for the Radio Hall of Fame. That doesn’t mean he ever impressed Keith Olbermann, however.
Elder recently questioned X owner Elon Musk about his lack of follower growth.
“Dear (Elon Musk), Why does my number of followers barely change day to day, despite how often I post and how clever and meaningful the content? Please be advised, there is deep state at X and, with all due respect, you are so busy and distracted that you don’t even know it,” Elder wrote in the post.
Why does my number of followers barely change day to day, despite how often I post and how clever and meaningful the content? Please be advised, there is deep state at X and, with all due respect, you are so busy and distracted that you don’t even know it.
During his Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast Friday, the former cable news host mocked Elder, and openly admitted he believed the persona from the longtime radio host was a character in a similar vein to Stephen Colbert during his Comedy Central days.
“I have to tell you that for a long time, I thought Larry Elder was a bit,” Olbermann revealed. “Some comedian fiercely dedicated to an alternate persona. He had this great concept of a conservative idiot with a specialty for stepping on rakes. You know kind of like Dave Chappelle’s blind KKK leader but a fringe radio talk show host.”
After reading Elder’s social media message, sarcastically said Elder was right that “the deep state” was limiting his followers, not the content he was publishing.”
“Mr. Elder has inadvertently defined MAGA and the Republican Party and the 21st-century Trumpian culture of ‘I’m an infallible genius. I know this because I’m also omniscient’. It couldn’t be — even as some of Elder’s fellow right-wing trolls noted — that his timeline consists mostly of links to websites he’s being paid to promote, therefore, nobody wants to follow him,” Olbermann sarcastically said.
“It couldn’t be something else that you also might discern from his timeline, or just from hearing him talk, namely that MAGA Larry Elder is really dumb. No, it’s the deep state.”
Sports Illustrated‘s tumultuous existence under Authentic Brands Group (ABG) continues, as it terminated its licensing deal with The Arena Group, the company that published SI for the past 4+ years. The Arena Group then informed the Sports Illustrated team that it was laying off the publication’s entire staff, throwing the former stalwart of sports reporting’s existence into uncertainty and peril.
Yesterday, The Arena Group sent Sports Illustrated staff members this message, confirming that ABG revoked the Sports Illustrated license from Arena and would thus end SI as it previously existed.
The Sports Illustrated Union issued a statement via X, fighting to keep the doors open and continue to “serve [its] audience in the way it has for nearly 70 years.” “We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love,” said Mitch Goldich, NFL editor for Sports Illustrated and unit chair. “and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue.”
According to Front Office Sports, however, ABG is committed to keeping Sports Illustrated alive. “Authentic will see Sports Illustrated through a necessary evolution,” one unnamed source told FOS.
In response to the move, former CEO and Arena Group board member Ross Levinsohn resigned effective immediately from the board. “The actions of this Board and the actions against Sports Illustrated’s storied brand and newsroom are the last straw,” said Levinsohn via LinkedIn. “An incredible team spent years rebuilding great brands like SI through very challenging times. To watch in horror what is transpiring now is one of the most disappointing things I’ve ever witnessed in my professional life.
San Antonio sports radio alumns Mike Taylor and Rudy Jay have announced they will be teaming up to host In The Building, a new podcast set to debut on Monday. The show will air on the Love You Hard YouTube channel at 11 a.m. local time each weekday and be available on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google and iHeartRadio.
Taylor left Ticket 760 in June of last year after being with the station for 15 years. Jay had his final show with 94.1 San Antonio’s Sports Star on January 12. Jay co-hosted “R&R In The Morning,” during the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. local time slot with station Program Director Rob Thompson.
There isn’t a conservative radio host that won’t tell you they speak the truth. However, nationally syndicated host Jesse Kelly believes he takes that mantra a step further.
During The Jesse Kelly Show Thursday, the evening host argued that he has no qualms about making listeners feel uncomfortable with the content of his show.
Kelly read an email from a listener that called him a “conspiracy theorist” and a “tin-foil hat guy”. The host often calls himself an “oracle” in a joking manner, but said there is some truth to his reasoning for “being right” before other hosts.
“Listen, I joke — obviously — about being an Oracle. I’m no more an Oracle than you or anybody else. I joke about that. But you know why I occasionally get things right before other people get things right? It’s because I’m a bad person,” Kelly posited.
“If I say something that makes people uncomfortable, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable that I made them uncomfortable. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable…I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I’m not trying to bring you down. At the same time, I don’t give a crap if it makes you uncomfortable. We have to be honest about what we’re facing.”
Jesse Kelly argued his political history gives him a unique perspective that some other hosts simply don’t have.
“The only reason I’m able to see some of the things these people are doing before maybe some others are able to see it — I don’t think I see it before you see it –but the reason I see it before some others are able to see it is because I understand the nature of what we face.”
The NFL continues to drive viewers to ESPN, as both Saturday and Sunday editions of its postseason NFL Countdown studio show broke one million viewers and posted viewership highs. Saturday’s edition of the program amassed 1.2 million viewers, a 16 percent increase since the Super Wild Card games from last year, while Sunday’s edition reached 1.6 million viewers, a ten percent growth over last year. These are the show’s highest numbers since 2019.
Following Sunday NFL Countdown's best regular season viewership since 2019, momentum continued into the #NFLPlayoffs for Postseason NFL Countdown???? pic.twitter.com/mvlkHhOUbA
This news comes following CountDown’s record-setting 2023. Sunday NFL Countdown earned its most-watched regular season since 2019 and its second-best since 2016, increased its audience in every key demo, and delivered the show’s most-watched episode in nine seasons during Week 4, and matched its most-watched Week 2 episode since 2016. The show’s Monday night edition averaged 1.4 million viewers on ESPN and 4.2 million viewers for the five editions on ABC.
