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Gary Hahn to Retire as NC State Radio Voice

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Longtime NC State radio play-by-play voice Gary Hahn has announced his upcoming retirement.

Hahn has worked as the Voice of the Wolfpack football and men’s basketball teams since 1990, calling more than 400 football and 1,000 men’s basketball games.

“I will be pushing 72 years old, so I’m in the fourth quarter of my life, and there are other important things I’d like to do—and need to do—with the time that the Lord has planned for me. This decision will give me the opportunity to finish strong,” Hahn said as he concluded the Wolfpack’s postgame show Saturday.

Before joining NC State as its radio voice, Hahn worked with radio networks for Louisville, Ohio State, and Alabama. Additionally, he served as a sports anchor/reporter for the NBC Radio Network.

“Gary has been a big part of the fabric of NC State sports for three decades, and we thank him for the role he has played in connecting our passionate Wolfpack fans to the excitement and spirit of game days whether they are in Raleigh or around the country,” said Kyle Winchester, General Manager of Wolfpack Sports Properties, the local division of Learfield that manages the Wolfpack Sports Network. “We appreciate his tireless commitment to serving our NC State teams, coaches, fans, and the community.”

He will step aside from his duties with the school’s radio network at the conclusion of the 2023-2024 men’s basketball season.

Gary Hahn was suspended from his role late last year after a quip during the school’s bowl game broadcast. During the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Hahn gave a score update from the Sun Bowl, which takes place in El Paso, Texas. In the update, he said the game was being played “amongst all the illegal aliens” in the Texas border city. Learfield subsequently suspended him for two weeks before he returned to the program’s basketball broadcasts.

Amanda Gifford: ESPN Hopes Technology Will Remain Big Part of College Football Broadcasts

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Amanda Gifford: ESPN Hopes Technology Will Remain Big Part of College Football Broadcasts

As more technology enters sports broadcasts, networks will try to find any way they can to bring the viewer closer to the game. That holds true for ESPN and their college football coverage each week.

This week, Amanda Gifford, the Vice President of Production and the leader of college football/XFL productions for ESPN, was a guest on the Sports Media With Richard Deitsch Podcast. Deitsch asked Gifford where she sees the future of college football broadcasts going and the big thing she was talking about going into the year was access.

“One thing that we went into this season talking about is access and that’s something that we are really pushing with our crews this year. How are we taking our viewers behind the curtain of what happens during a typical college football game? We’ve had some success with the pregame speech from Dan Lanning at Oregon….That was a great example of access. But, what’s the next step of that?”

“It would be great to have even more access in four years. Can we hear the conversation between the coordinators and head coaches? Can we hear the conversations between the head coaches and players? Can we put a camera on the quarterback in some way? How we push for access I think will be interesting and see how that evolves over the next couple of years.”

Gifford brought up the point that technology is a big innovator for college football and one of the things she is hoping for is that the camera angles continue to evolve for the viewer.

“I think technology is always going to be a big part of our college football broadcasts. How are we innovating the main things like the pylon cam, the 1st and 10 line? How are we getting past the chains and human part of it? Camera angles, I really hope we can continue to push different camera angles. We’ve done things like the pylon cam, (and) the ref hat cam. I feel like the view of the game hopefully will continue to get even more intricate as we evolve over the next few years.” 

As the network gets set for the first set of College Football Playoff Rankings to be revealed on Tuesday, the viewership of college football has been up for ESPN this year and Giffords did say that Deion Sanders has played a small part in that now that he is coaching Colorado.

“I think the first thing is probably some of the big brands of college football are doing really well. A lot of the traditional powers are having really good years. Deion Sanders can not be denied as a storyline and why there has been such an upswing of viewership especially in the PAC-12. Every game we have done of his has performed really well from a ratings perspective and he has brought a new element to college football that expands beyond the traditional college football fan.”  

Mike Breen Inks Contract Extension with ESPN

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Mike Breen, the lead play-by-play announcer for the NBA on ESPN and longtime voice of the NBA Finals, has reportedly agreed to a four-year extension that will be added on to his existing contract at the network.

The deal begins taking place in two years, a time when ESPN has yet to secure broadcasting rights for the NBA and when the network reportedly expects to have a direct-to-consumer product on the market. News of the deal was first reported by Andrew Marchand of The New York Post.

Breen joined ESPN in October 2003 and worked with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson on 15 NBA Finals broadcasts, a dynamic broadcasting trio that was broken up during the offseason because of layoffs at the network.

The 2023-24 campaign marks the first season where Mike Breen is working alongside Doris Burke and Doc Rivers, part of several changes on the network’s NBA coverage. Breen recently called his 100th NBA Finals game and is slated to reach 20 instances of calling the Association’s championship series with ESPN at the conclusion of the 2024-25 regular season.

In addition to his national responsibilities with ESPN, Breen continues to serve as the play-by-play voice of the New York Knicks on MSG Networks. For those games, he works with analyst Walt “Clyde” Frazier, who will be backed up by the aforementioned Jackson this season.

Dave Roberts, head of event and studio production at ESPN, oversees NBA coverage and revealed that part of the reason the network implemented a secondary broadcast booth was as a succession plan down the road. The lineup consists of Ryan Ruocco, who calls women’s college basketball and the WNBA on ESPN, along with JJ Redick and Richard Jefferson.

ESPN Looking Toward Leagues in Strategic Partner Search

BSM Staff
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ESPN Looking Toward Leagues in Strategic Partner Search

Discussion surrounding the next media rights contract within the NBA is underway as the league and its partners begin considering options with two years to go on the current deal. The league currently receives nearly $24 billion in rights fees annually – and several reports have indicated that the NBA is hoping rights fees from ESPN and TNT triple in the next round of negotiations.

Disney is reportedly looking for a strategic partner to purchase a minority equity stake of ESPN, of which it currently owns 80%. The other 20% is held by Hearst Communications, and it remains unknown whether or not that company has any interest in selling part of its share. Nonetheless, Disney has been reportedly looking at potential partners within various different industries, including the technology sector.

“Overall, we’re considering potential strategic partnerships for ESPN, looking at distribution, technology, marketing, and content opportunities where we retain control of ESPN,” Iger said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. “We’ve received notable interest from many different entities and we look forward to sharing more details at a later date when we are further along in this process.”

According to the report from The New York Times, Disney has had discussions with the NBA regarding a minority equity stake and the provisions of a potential deal. A source tells The Times that one of the benefits ESPN would hope to gain in a partnership could be the integration of its own social media with that of the NBA, along with increased in-game functionality and an expanded breadth of distribution.

Furthermore, if Diamond Sports Group is unable to emerge from Ch. 11 bankruptcy, the NBA would regain control of local media rights for 14 teams in the league. The league could then potentially consider selling those rights to a national partner, which would be a different course of action than that taken by Major League Baseball, which instituted its own local media department.

92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman Apologizes After Outburst at Co-Host Anthony Lima

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Following a 24-20 loss by the Cleveland Browns to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, frustration regarding the team’s performance on the field seems to have boiled over to a point of indignation. On Monday morning’s edition of The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima on 92.3 The Fan, co-host Ken Carman grew frustrated with the notion of the conversation being centered around firing head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Throughout the morning, various callers participated in the show and conveyed their agitation towards Stefanski and the performance of the team. Several weeks ago, Carman’s co-host, Anthony Lima, threatened to stop taking calls on the show after everything was focused on Stefanski. The next day, the show clarified the sentiments and ensured that people would always be able to make their voices heard through calls, a unique aspect of the sports talk radio format in particular.

“I’m angry right now, but I’m not going to be stupid, Anthony, and demand for him to be fired in this position,” Carman said, leading Lima to try and share his opinion. “Hold on – hold on! You’ve held me on for a long time – listen to me.”

“It’s not monologue radio – we have conversations here,” Lima countered. “That’s what we do. I know the video cameras are on and you’re trying to make a moment.”

Carman wanted to make it clear that he was not acting angrily just to create a viral moment.

“Please teach me more about radio! Please teach me more,” Ken Carman said. “Okay, I’ll get rid of the cameras for you!”

Carman then swatted away the video camera, leaving viewers with a shot of the side of a desktop computer screen as the two hosts verbalized their exasperation throughout the segment.

“Let’s have a damn conversation because you interrupted me seven times in the last two minutes,” Lima said. “…You’re giving platitudes; I’m trying to get an understanding.”

“There’s no platitudes; there’s no platitudes,” Carman responded, his voice rising. “I’m trying to explain something to you – please explain more about radio to me. I would like you to explain radio to me. Please explain it. Explain radio. Tell me how this works.”

Lima asked Carman to give him nuance and wanted to understand why everyone was attacking Stefanski amid injuries to several members of the team, including the starting quarterback. He then shared that he felt that Carman was just looking at one play from the game to justify the remarks, predicated by many of the calls the show received.

As a result, Lima equated what his co-host stated to something that would be proffered by average football fans around the league.

“Don’t you ever accuse me of that ever again on this show!”, Carman said. “I don’t care, because you’re not listening – you just want to start some argument over Kevin Stefanski.”

“Well, that’s the whole show today,” Lima replied, “and that’s what I’m saying is every guy’s going to call up [about] and say that play. We get that.”

“No, but you’d rather start a fight with me than take the calls,” Carman asserted. “I know what you’re doing to me.”

After the station shared the segment on X, formerly Twitter, Carman apologized for his conduct.

“Tiger got out of the cage. I’m sorry,” Carman wrote. “I’ll clean it up the rest of the morning.”

Sid Rosenberg: Theater Show with Bill O’Reilly ‘Maybe Biggest Rock Star Moment of My Career’

BNM Staff
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Sid Rosenberg joined former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly for a live theater show on Long Island Friday night. The 77 WABC host had high praise for the evening.

During Sid and Friends in the Morning on the New York news/talk station Monday, Rosenberg shared a text message he received about the night, saying a fan wanted to introduce himself to the host, but couldn’t due to the overwhelming crowd surrounding him.

“I couldn’t leave for an hour,” Rosenberg said. “It took me an hour. Grabbing, pulling, taking pictures. It was maybe my biggest rock star moment in my career. It was wild.”

Sid Rosenberg and Bill O’Reilly hosted “A New York State of Mind”, which detailed their upbringing in the city, and a discussion on how to return New York to its former glory. The one-night-only event was held at the Paramount Theater and was sold out.

During an interview with Rosenberg Monday morning, O’Reilly said the topic was “germane to almost everything that we’re talking about in the political arena and social arena today”.

The 77 WABC host added that listeners from around the nation have inquired about hosting a similar event in their city.

“A bunch of folks have reached out to me from Phoenix to Florida to Jersey, but of course, it wasn’t my show,” admitted Rosenberg. “I was honored and humbled to be a part of it was Bill O’Reilly show and Bill was amazing on Friday.”

David Haugh: Market Size Matters More Than It Should to NFL TV Partners

BSM Staff
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David Haugh: Market Size Matters More Than It Should to NFL TV Partners

The Chicago Bears faced the Los Angeles Chargers on the Week 8 edition of Sunday Night Football, a game that the Bears never led and lost 30-13. This disappointing display led to frustration to be conveyed by Mike Mulligan and David Haugh on 670 The Score Monday morning.

“In retrospect, memo to the NFL, always flex the Bears,” Mike Mulligan said.

Before the start of the 2023 season, the NFL instituted amended procedures for flex scheduling. For the first time in league history, the league’s primetime properties have the ability to flex games.

The league has only flexed one game out of its current time slot thus far – a Week 6 matchup between the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers – and has broadened purview in this regard as the season continues to progress.

Haugh, however, shared that the nation’s “addiction” to football is much larger than just top three markets.

“The LA market (and) the Chicago market? Great,” David Haugh added. “And with the NFL being what it is, we are addicted to football. Fine. You’re looking more for quality than quantity if you’re talking about the NFL and Sunday Night Football. Skip the Bears.”

The Chicago Bears are scheduled to play on Thursday Night Football for the Week 10 matchup against the Carolina Panthers. Two weeks later, the team will take on the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.

Grace Curley: People Hate Riley Gaines ‘Because She’s Good at What She Does’

BNM Staff
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Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines joined OutKick earlier this year to host a podcast advocating for transgender athletes to be barred from competing in women’s sports. Her crusade has created waves and controversy, which radio host Grace Curley argues is due to the ability of Gaines to make her point.

Gaines was scheduled to speak at Harvard last week but was met with pushback from students and faculty for her views. She contends her views are not “anti-trans”, but are in reality “pro-women”.

Curley aired an interview she recorded with Gaines for The Grace Curley Show, and argued that the former swimmer’s ability to make her point effectively is what causes the pushback she receives.

“I had the opportunity yesterday to talk to Riley Gaines, the former competitive swimmer, who is now the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute,” said Curley. “And they were the sponsor of the Speak Louder Campus Tour, which made its way to Harvard.

“She was not welcome at Harvard, as you could probably imagine. She was not well received because she is a woman who is giving her opinion on something that 10, maybe even five years ago, would not have been a big deal, but now it’s very controversial,” continued Curley. “And she’s really good at what she does, which is why she takes people off.”

During an interview with Barrett News Media last week, Gaines said her advocacy isn’t about personal aspirations.

“I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing selflessly. It’s not about me, it’s not about personal advancement, it’s not about money or anything like that. It’s truly about the mission,” the OutKick host claimed.

Jon Sciambi: Calling Baseball on Radio Like Conducting an Orchestra

BSM Staff
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As the World Series continues, Jon Sciambi, affectionately known as “Boog,” is in the midst of his first year as the national radio voice of the Fall Classic.

Sciambi, the television voice of the Chicago Cubs on Marquee Sports Network, succeeds Dan Shulman in the role and highly regards the responsibility of delivering the action to baseball fans. He is on the call with analysts Jessica Mendoza and Eduardo Pérez, along with insider Buster Olney. Sciambi is staying focused on the nuances of the job and making sure he adequately performs his role.

“People cannot watch the game, so as the saying goes, it’s painting the picture,” he said in an interview with Richard Deitsch of The Athletic. “There’s a craft to it, and it’s something that I really take seriously and something that I love.”

There are innate differences between calling contests on radio as opposed to performing play-by-play duties on television. Jon Sciambi has balanced both throughout the season as the regional voice of the Cubs and national radio voice for most Sunday Night Baseball contests.

“For radio, there is trying to deliver images in people’s heads,” Sciambi said. “You want to try to, as efficiently as possible, describe what you’re seeing. You want to use the sounds of the ballpark. When you do it well, you feel like you’re conducting an orchestra.

“Whereas on television, you have different choices that you can make, but the viewer can always see it. So if you want to say, ‘Here’s the 2-1,’ you can, but the score bug shows you that it’s the 2-1, and you see the pitcher pitching. On radio, they don’t know that the play is starting until you say, ‘Montgomery kicks and deals.’”

Christine Romans Officially Joining NBC News After CNN Exit

BNM Staff
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Christine Romans Officially Joining NBC News After CNN Exit

Longtime CNN anchor Christine Romans departed CNN in July after 24 years at the cable news giant. Her new landing spot has officially been announced.

Romans is joining NBC News as a senior business correspondent. She will contribute to coverage on NBC News and MSNBC, and will also write for NBCNews.com.

“Christine will cover all aspects of major breaking business news with a core emphasis on the economy – inflation, jobs, wages, debt, the Fed, manufacturing and trade, regional trends, and how it affects the daily lives of Americans across the country,” an internal memo from Senior Vice President of NBC News Editorial Catherine Kim wrote.

The longtime CNN anchor started her career at the network focusing on the financial sector, before moving to the network’s Early Start morning program in 2014.

 “I’ve climbed the mountain and it’s time for me to climb a new one, but I’m forever grateful to have worked alongside some of the most talented journalists in the business,” Romans said as she announced her exit from CNN.

It was expected Christine Romans was departing CNN for NBC News at the time of her departure. She will be based in New York and begins her duties with the network today.

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