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Don La Greca: I Could Negotiate TV Deals for the NFL as Well as Roger Goodell

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Don La Greca: I Could Negotiate TV Deals for the NFL as Well as Roger Goodell

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently signed an extension to remain the league’s chief through the 2027 season. 98.7 ESPN New York’s Don La Greca believes Goodell gets too much praise for something anyone could do.

While discussing changes he’d like to see made to the NFL during The Michael Kay Show, La Greca argued that Goodell has the easiest negotiating job in television.

“This is gonna get me fired but fine, I will spend more time with the family. Everybody gives Roger Goodell like a billion dollars because he negotiates these television contracts. I could walk in there and go ‘Blah!’, and they’ll give me 6 billion to broadcast the games,” La Greca said. “You know why? Because it’s football! There’s football! But here I am off the top of my head, just having a conversation my buddy Peter (Rosenberg), and I’m revolutionizing the game of football. You don’t have to pay me just give me the NFL Sunday Ticket for free. How about that?”

Don La Greca continued by questioning why Goodell is so well compensated when the product is what brings in billions, and not his negotiating skills.

“You know what my speech would be? So long as I’m offering you football, do you realize that nearly 20 million people watched Cowboys/Chargers to see the two teams — combined — commit 19 penalties? 20 million people watched it! There was a baseball playoff game up against it. 3.7 million (viewers). So what negotiating skills does it take to walk into the office when you’ve got football in your back pocket?”

NFL Exec: ‘We Were Really Happy’ with NFL Sunday Ticket Numbers with YouTube TV

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NFL Exec: ‘We Were Really Happy’ with NFL Sunday Ticket Numbers with YouTube TV

The NFL was never shy about its intention to put NFL Sunday Ticket on a streaming platform when the contract with DirecTV was nearing its end. NFL Chief Business and Media Officer Brian Rolapp says the league is already satisfied with its new deal with YouTube TV.

While speaking with media members at the league’s fall meetings in New York, Rolapp shared the league’s pleasure with the streaming platform.

“We are already above where it was last year, we are the highest — we’re not releasing the number — subscription I think we’ve seen in five years,” Rolapp said. “So it’s been really successful. So when you measure by subscribers, but probably not more importantly, the fan reaction is great. We were really happy.”

According to reports, NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV has 1.3 million subscribers. That figure is already ahead of the final numbers the league-wide package saw in its final season with DirecTV. YouTube — owned by Google — is paying the NFL $2 billion per year in the first of a seven-year deal.

As the league continues to expand into more streaming options, Rolapp noted that the NFL is also excited about the growth Amazon Prime Video has seen with its Thursday Night Football package.

“Amazon, which we’ve seen so far, just short of 14 million viewers, is starting to look closer to broadcast numbers,” said Rolapp. “The digital business is starting to catch up, it hasn’t quite caught up but it has been significant growth.”

EJ Stewart Named Executive Producer of CBS Sports Radio’s Maggie and Perloff

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EJ Stewart Named Executive Producer of CBS Sports Radio’s Maggie and Perloff

EJ Stewart has been named the new Executive Producer of CBS Sports Radio’s new morning show featuring Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff.

In an announcement made on X, formerly Twitter, Stewart shared his excitement for the new role on the national morning show.

“I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining (Maggie and Perloff) as the Executive Producer of the CBS Sports Radio morning show,” Stewart wrote. “Maggie Gray and Andrew Perloff are outstanding talents and I cannot thank them and (CBS Sports Radio Brand Manager) Spike Eskin enough for putting their faith in me,” Stewart concluded.

The program moved to mornings earlier this month after the departure of Damon Amendolara. After 11 years at CBS Sports Radio, DA moved his program to SiriusXM.

Amendolara’s departure followed the move of the daypart’s previous Executive Producer, Shaun Morash, who moved to an afternoon producer/co-host role on WFAN’s newly launched Tiki & Evan show.

Stewart joined CBS Sports Radio in December 2021 after previously working as a producer at Spectrum News NY1.

Bill Handel: X Charging Users $1 Won’t Deter Bots

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Earlier this week, X, formerly Twitter, owner Elon Musk revealed the company would be testing out a new system that would charge new users in New Zealand and The Philipines $1 to ensure they were not a bot. KFI-AM 640 host Bill Handel argues that won’t stop the problem.

During his Handel on the News segment Thursday, the Los Angeles-based host argued it might make bots more prevalent on the platform.

“I do think it can help,” co-host Wayne Resnick said. “I don’t know if it will completely solve the problem, but I do think it can make a dent. A dollar a year is not outrageous. Although, given what’s happening on that platform, a dollar a year is probably overpriced.”

“So when a bot comes out, and I was looking at an interview with a couple of Russians that were involved in the election and the bot campaign against Hillary Clinton. So if you produce 40,000 bots that are giving the same message that’s only $40,000. If it’s $40,000 once, it’s an annual subscription,” Bill Handel said, alluding to the fact that $40,000 for a quasi-smear campaign may be a more budget-friendly option than other marketing campaigns.

When presented with the idea that the bots would have to verify a phone number to ensure registration, Handel argued that wouldn’t be hard to produce, either.

“That’s easy. I get spam calls all the time, which I answer,” Handel joked. “It’s always from a different number.”

Brian Wilson: Fox News Tenure Included Middle East Trips To Learn About Israel and Hamas

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Brian Wilson: Fox News Tenure Included Middle East Trips To Learn About Israel and Hamas

SuperTalk 99.7 WTN afternoon host Brian Wilson worked as a correspondent covering Washington D.C. for Fox News before joining the Nashville news/talk station. He said the network always wanted their reporters to be knowledgeable about the Middle East should a situation like the current one between Hamas and Israel come up.

During a discussion with Fox News’ Pete Hegseth on The Drive earlier this week, Wilson noted that during his time with the network, they purposely sent him to the Middle East to become more educated about the region.

“When I was at Fox, they allowed me to go to the Middle East on a learning tour,” Wilson said. “Just to learn. I didn’t have any real assignments. I was shown around by a guy who knew the region quite well and they took me to Gaza one day.”

Wilson continued by noting that he was taken to several important locales in the city, which gave him a deeper knowledge and understanding of the complexities experienced in the region.

In addition to working at Fox News and SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, Wilson also previously spent time at stations in Texas and Alabama, as well as WMAL in Washington D.C.

Bomani Jones Bringing Podcast to Wave Sports + Entertainment

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Bomani Jones Bringing Podcast to Wave Sports + Entertainment

Bomani Jones is bringing his hit podcast to Wave Sports + Entertainment, which will include a live video format and air three times a week – Monday; Wednesday and Friday. With the move of The Right Time with Bomani Jones from ESPN to this digital platform, the show will join a growing lineup of sports podcasts from commentators and athletes. Jones’ contract was recently not renewed by ESPN, a decision that came just weeks after HBO canceled his sports show, Game Theory with Bomani Jones.

Wave Sports + Entertainment has accumulated more than 117 million followers across the globe, and the company includes a score of several strategic investors, including Milwaukee Bucks forward and two-time NBA most valuable player Giannis Antetokounmpo. His investment took place during a $27 million Series B funding round for the sports and entertainment conglomerate, which is now the home of podcasts from Paul George, Robert Griffin III and Travis and Jason Kelce.

“The best thing about Wave is that digital is what they do. It’s not a wing of their operation,” Jones told Demetri Ravanos of Barrett Sports Media. “So this is what they’ve been focused on for years and they’re leaner and more nimble and thereby, I think, probably better able to give the support to a podcast like ours. ESPN, we did great over there. We had great numbers with them, but I think in terms of like the executive class and all the way down, I’m probably better aligned with Wave than I would have been honestly with any other company that we talked to.”

Jones began working in sports media when he started appearing as a contributor on the ESPN investigative program, Outside the Lines, and as a panelist on Around the Horn. A few years later, he began to be featured on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz and ended up co-hosting Highly Questionable with Le Batard when the show launched on ESPN in 2015. Jones’ podcast initially aired on ESPN Radio, eventually moving to the afternoon drive daypart. It started exclusively being available as a podcast in the spring of 2018.

A full conversation between Jones and Ravanos will be featured on Barrett Sports Media as part of our “Meet the Podcasters” series presented by Point-to-Point Marketing on Wednesday.

Bill O’Reilly: Networks Won’t Have Mark Levin and I On TV For Book Promotion

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Conservative radio hosts Bill O’Reilly and Mark Levin are both currently promoting new books, but the former Fox News host alleges you wouldn’t know that if you watched television news.

During an appearance on The Sean Hannity Show to promote his new Killing the Witches: The Horrors of Salem, Massachusetts book, O’Reilly said neither he nor Levin were welcomed on any television news programs to promote their new offerings.

“Here’s something your audience may not know…Mark Levin has a big best-selling book out. It’s selling thousands of copies. He can’t get on any network to sell it. Ever. Neither can I,” O’Reilly revealed. “And when I did do the networks for my previous Killing books, I brought big ratings. All of them. Today Show, Good Morning America, and the late-night people.

“So I had my staff do a trace. There has not been one independent or conservative author on any of the network shows, including Sunday mornings, which does a big thing every Sunday,” Bill O’Reilly continued. “None. Zero. Complete concrete wall. It’s amazing.”

Levin’s book — entitled The Democrat Party Hates America — encountered controversy before it was released. Mark Levin alleged Target had refused to sell the book in its physical locations, sticking to only offering it on its online platforms. However, Target has denied that claim, and eventually offered Levin’s book in its brick-and-mortar locations.

Nielsen: Phillies Wild Card Series Amassed a 51.4 Share for In-Home Listening

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As the Philadelphia Phillies continue another postseason run with World Series aspirations, more consumers are listening to the team’s radio broadcasts than ever before. According to a report from Inside Radio, Nielsen Media Research divulged that shares for the first game of the team’s Wild Card Series against the Miami Marlins generated a 46.3 share in the men 25-54 demographic. The first hour of the broadcast generated a 51.5 share, while a 50.0-share was recorded in the second hour, both frames during which the Phillies posted key offensive output to get on the board.

The next day, the Phillies completed the two-game sweep of the Marlins and garnered a 41.1 share in the same demographic. In this game, however, the Phillies offense shined in the sixth inning when a four-run effort effectively placed the game out of reach. As a result, the second hour of the broadcast produced the highest share of the night at 45.8, while the first hour came in at 38.2. These over-the-air listening numbers, however, do not encompass the total breadth of the audience for WIP-FM, and more information can be ascertained by viewing the out-of-home consumption.

Nielsen data outlines that over half of listening within the Wild Card Series took place in the home, perhaps indicative of the preferential nature for regional broadcasters from fans. Scott Franzke made an iconic call during last year’s NLCS when Bryce Harper hit a clutch home run that ended up putting the Phillies into the World Series. Throughout this postseason, he has been joined by television play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy and radio color commentator Larry Anderson.

In an interview with Inside Radio, Nielsen’s senior vice president and sales director, John Snyder, referred to the in-home shares as “stunning” and believed that the numbers were indicative of people turning down the national television broadcast and aligning the images to the audio being disseminated over the air. In viewing the localization of the medium firsthand, it is evident that the medium still has a significant impact during the most critical games of the year.

“Some people forget about the passion associated with radio,” Snyder said. “This brings it home, where people are going through the hassle of syncing it up to hear the local call of the game.”

Netflix: ‘No Core Change’ in Our Live Sports Strategy

BSM Staff
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Netflix: ‘No Core Change’ in Our Live Sports Strategy

Although it has long been rumored that Netflix could look to explore live sports rights, the company’s co-chief executive officer feels that its strategy has not changed. The company is on the verge of hosting The Netflix Cup at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev., marking the first live sporting event being broadcast by the over-the-top (OTT) streaming service. It will feature four Formula 1 drivers – Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz – and four PGA Tour players – Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas – all competing in a golf tournament mere days before the first ever Las Vegas F1 Grand Prix.

“We are in the sports business, but we’re in the part of the sports business that we bring the most value to, which is the drama of sport,” Ted Sarandos said on Wednesday. “We’re having a big impact on sports through the thing we’re most great at, which is the drama.”

Netflix has released various sports documentaries and series over the last several years that have drawn wide swaths of viewership, including Formula 1: Drive to Survive; Full Swing; Break Point; Beckham; and Quarterback among others. As the company embarks on a new project, it hopes to be able to continue to popularize Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing, both of which are on the precipice of new seasons, along with its broad sports portfolio.

“We love to see how our sports series have brought increased fandom to sports leagues and competitions all over the world,” Gabe Spitzer, Netflix vice president of nonfiction sports, said in a statement. “The Netflix Cup will take that energy to the next level with global stars from two popular hits competing in our first-ever live sports event.”

With media rights for the National Basketball Association two seasons away from expiring, reports have suggested that the league could look to adopt a hybrid structure between linear television and digital platforms. Apple and Amazon are reportedly interested in negotiating with the league once they are able.

Moreover, current rightsholders in The Walt Disney Company (ABC/ESPN/ESPN+) and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT/TBS/Max) could look to diminish the number of games they carry. While it has long been rumored that Netflix could explore a bid for media rights, Sarandos knows that the company will continue the course of action it has planned to assimilate into the business.

“I think about it as a great way of extending those great drama of sport brands that we’ve created,” Sarandos said, “but [there is] no core change in our live sports strategy or licensing live sports.”

There are similarities between the forthcoming presentation of The Netflix Cup and the Warner Bros. Discovery event, The Match, accentuated through the professional athletes and celebrities that participate across these competitions. Netflix will not be required to pay an extravagant rights fee for the event and could be a harbinger of things to come for the company should it prove successful.

“We are investing heavily in live capabilities,” Sarandos said, “so as demand grows for that and we find different ways that the live-ness can be part of the creative storytelling, we want to be able to do that at a big scale.”

The event is sanctioned by both Formula 1 and the PGA Tour and will be produced by Excel Sports Management, BZ Entertainment and Full Day Productions. Netflix will begin its live stream of all the action on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. EST/3 p.m. PST.

Brian Stelter: Media Did Harm By Inaccurate Reporting in Gaza Hospital Attack

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Brian Stelter: Media Did Harm By Inaccurate Reporting in Gaza Hospital Attack

Differing media reports about an explosion at a hospital in Gaza shifted blame from an Israeli airstrike to unconfirmed reports that the Hamas organization deliberately blew up the facility. Former CNN host Brian Stelter argued the situation caused harm to the overall credibility of the news organizations.

During an appearance on Dan Abrams Live Wednesday, Stelter told the NewsNation host there was no defense of the inaccurate reporting.

“Sometimes, Dan, you’re out there criticizing the media and I want to defend the media. But there is no defense here. This was an atrocious series of mistakes by many different major newsrooms all around the same time on Tuesday,” Brian Stelter said. “And, unfortunately, I don’t think there’s been enough follow-up or accountability to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“I’ve noticed oftentimes in breaking news stories, breaking news scenarios, when information is lowest, interest is highest, and by the time we actually know the facts, people move on. Well, this was one of those cases, but it was even worse because when the stakes are highest, it seems the standards were the lowest, and it should be the opposite. The standard should be the highest when the stakes are as high as they are right now.

Headlines at The Washington Post and New York Times were scrutinized Wednesday for failing to identify whether or not it was Israel or Hamas who was responsible for the attack.

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