Home Blog Page 1944

Marcellus Wiley: Stephen A. Smith ‘Still Sidestepping the Truth’ About Max Kellerman

BSM Staff
-
0
Marcellus Wiley: Stephen A. Smith ‘Still Sidestepping the Truth’ About Max Kellerman

Last week, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith addressed comments made by Marcellus Wiley about Max Kellerman’s departure from First Take. Wiley shot back Thursday with harsh criticism of Smith.

Previously, Smith has claimed that the program needed a “fresh start” as reason for asking for the removal of Kellerman from the show. He shared he did not want to drop below ratings from the FS1 program that featured his former partner Skip Bayless. Wiley responded by arguing that Smith was insecure and “felt threatened by Kellerman”.

During an appearance on the popular radio morning show The Breakfast Club, Smith addressed Wiley’s comments.

“He and I worked together. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. I know the man he was talking about (Kellerman), that’s his best friend,” Smith said. “I get all of that. No problem. Here’s my only issue: for a black man to sit up there and say another black man is scared of somebody’s intellect? Come on, bro.”

Wiley addressed the comments, accusing Smith of remaining untruthful about why he no longer wanted Kellerman as a debate partner on First Take.

“Stephen A. Smith is sidestepping the truth. Now, let me make this clear. Stephen A. Smith went on a calculated character and credential assassination of Max Kellerman. It wasn’t just a bad take. He kept going. He chose to make up a facade,” said Wiley. “The truth is simple. That would have been too simple. Lies are complex. That’s why he still kept talking about it. And Stephen, hey, I couldn’t let you keep doing that to Max Kellerman, because that dude has earned his stripes.

“So I’m just giving you that energy. That same energy you gave to Max Kellerman, and that same energy you give to countless athletes to say that I was wrong as a black man to question another black man’s intellect on a public platform, which I didn’t do. I didn’t question it. But I do know that you do question the intellect, the heart, the talent of black athletes every damn day on that show. That’s very rich of you to try and make what I said when it’s something you do every single day, which is highly hypocritical of you, Stephen A. I’m telling you, man, you either got to be true in this world, or shut the hell up. It’s just that simple.”

On his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, the ESPN host said many want him to respond to Wiley, and another pundit who he refused to name, but is believed to be Jason Whitlock.

“I will not deny it. I think he’s a fat, no good bastard who I despise to the core,” Smith said of presumably Whitlock, adding that TheBlaze host has “the seeds of the devil” inside him.

Whitlock fired back on his Fearless with Jason Whitlock podcast by saying he wasn’t offended by Smith’s comments and agreed with Wiley.

“I’m disappointed and wish that he didn’t have that level of animous, because I don’t have it towards him, but I’ve put myself in position and the quirk in my personality allows me to be very, very honest,” said Whitlock. “Stephen A. Smith is not being honest here.”

Bally Sports Arizona Ceasing Operations

BSM Staff
-
0
Bally Sports Arizona Ceasing Operations

After seeing the Arizona Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns and Mercury, and Arizona Coyotes depart the network, Bally Sports Arizona is ceasing operations.

In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, Bally Sports Arizona announced it was “no longer providing coverage of your favorite teams”. “We sincerely thank you for your loyal viewership over the years”, the statement concluded.

The regional sports network asked out of its contract with the Arizona Coyotes earlier this month, with the team announcing a new deal with Scripps Sports for over-the-air television distribution hours later.

The departure of the Coyotes comes after the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury agreed to a similar deal with Gray Television stations in July. At the time, Bally Sports Arizona contested the contract, claiming they had the right to match any offer made to the NBA franchise. However, the deal ultimately went through.

Earlier this year, the network announced it had paid every MLB contract it held, except for the Arizona Diamondbacks, signaling its intent to drop the contract. MLB took control of the club’s television rights on July 18th after a bankruptcy court signed off on the network’s decision to end the contract.

The demise of Bally Sports Arizona coincides with parent company Diamond Sports Group’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. The company has been mired in court cases attempting to get out from under its massive debt load.

The regional sports network debuted in 1996 in the Copper State as FOX Sports Arizona. It also operated under the FOX Sports Net Arizona, FSN Arizona, FS Arizona, before being renamed under the Bally Sports naming rights deal in 2021.

Alanna Rizzo Comments on Jake Mintz Draw Backlash from BBWAA, Sports Journalists

BSM Staff
-
0
Alanna Rizzo Comments on Jake Mintz Draw Backlash from BBWAA, Sports Journalists

The Atlanta Braves were eliminated from MLB’s postseason on Thursday night by the Philadelphia Phillies, ending the year for the team with the best regular-season record. But it’s a media issue that occurred inside of the Braves clubhouse that has produced a ton of chatter.

The incident occurred when FOX Sports reporter Jake Mintz divulged that Orlando Arcia was mocking Bryce Harper after he was caught stranded on the basepaths for a double play to end Game 2 of the series. While Arcia was not conversing with reporters at the time, those in the room overheard him, presumably saying “Atta boy Harper!” Mintz decided to report the news he had been privy to, leading to a contentious debate over reporter privileges and the responsibilities they garner through journalism and media ethics.

MLB Network host Alanna Rizzo was impassioned in her remarks on Thursday’s edition of High Heat, claiming that the clubhouse is a “sacred space” and was infiltrated by media members who are unfit to receive credentials. Rizzo stated that media members who are only present during the postseason ruin the environment for everyone else. The visceral reaction compelled other journalists to speak out, taking positions on both sides of the matter.

Rizzo has continued to receive backlash for her remarks, prompting a statement from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). The organization seemed to take particular umbrage towards her deciding to call Mintz a “jackoff” within the commentary.

“For the record, Jake is a BBWAA member in good standing and has earned the right to be credentialed through his hard work and quality baseball coverage,” the organization said in a statement. “To assert otherwise, in vulgar terms, is both unprofessional and unacceptable. The BBWAA is deeply troubled that the league’s own network would permit the disparaging of one of our members in this fashion. Scrutinizing our work is part of the territory, but comments such as these should have no place on MLB [Network].”

Chelsea Janes, a national baseball reporter for The Washington Post, posted a thread on X, revealing that she was also in the locker room and explained the situation. She shared that cameras and other recording devices were live and yelled the phrase in the midst of those moments. Moreover, had there been a live feed of the clubhouse disseminated en masse, she wonders whether or not a network would be eviscerated for displaying the footage. Other baseball writers came to the defense of Mintz and chided Rizzo for her statement.

Rizzo addressed her comments early in Friday’s edition of High Heat, expressing remorse over what she insinuated on the air. She spoke with Mintz since Thursday’s edition of the show and explained that she has learned a lot over the last 24 hours.

“I wanted to give a very heartfelt apology to Jake Mintz and the entire BBWAA,” Rizzo articulated. “What I said yesterday about Jake was completely inappropriate, it was inaccurate and it was beyond unprofessional. I got caught up in the heat of the moment, but I have to say, the media – of course, the BBWAA and the credentialed media – do a tremendous job covering a sport that we love, and what I said was completely off base.”

Keith Olbermann: Charlie Kirk Was Labeled an Anti-Semite By His Own Group

BNM Staff
-
0

Radio host and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has long caught the ire of podcaster and former cable news host Keith Olbermann. That continued this week due to one of Kirk’s “ambassadors” tweets.

On Countdown with Keith Olbermann, the former cable news host argued that social media posts from one of Turning Point USA’s representatives unintentionally labeled the group as anti-Semites.

“Right-wing troll and balloon head Charlie Kirk and his fascist organization Turning Point USA, TPUSA, or as it is alternatively known, Toilet Paper USA, one of its so-called ambassadors, Morgan Ariel has decided to position Charlie Kirk and Turning Point kind of oddly as the Middle East goes up in flames,” Olbermann said. “Ms. Ariel tweeted ‘Zionism and communism go hand in hand’. So if you’d like to make a list of the TPUSA staffers and donors and advisors who Ms. Ariel just identified as belonging to an anti-Semitic organization, while Israel is at war, there’s Benny Johnson, Jack Posobiec, And of course, Ginny Thomas.”

Ariel has clashed with The Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro on X, formerly Twitter, calling him a “wicked man” for his encapsulations of the Hamas attacks on Israel.

“It’s insane that you are a founder of one of the largest pseudo-conservative media companies in America yet it’s more apparent now than ever before that your first interests do not lie here,” Ariel wrote, telling Shapiro — who is Jewish — that she hopes he “finds Jesus”.

MLB Says ‘Time is Up’ for Diamond Bankruptcy in New Court Motion

BSM Staff
-
0
MLB Says ‘Time is Up’ for Diamond Bankruptcy in New Court Motion

Diamond Sports Group has yet to reach a restructuring resolution with its creditors as the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons commence. While local broadcasts within Major League Baseball (MLB) are complete for the 2023 campaign, the league is taking initiative to ensure it does not find itself in an inauspicious situation once Opening Day arrives next year. After Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. emphatically rejected a proposal to grant Diamond Sports Group coveted direct-to-consumer (DTC) broadcast rights from Sinclair executive chairman David Smith, the subsidiary declared Ch. 11 bankruptcy shortly thereafter.

The league wants to eliminate ambiguity heading into next season, wherefore it filed a motion with the bankruptcy court to gain clarity on how the company would operate heading into the new year. This motion also included five clubs that are broadcast – and were paid – by Diamond Sports Group through the 2023 season: the Atlanta Braves; Cleveland Guardians; Detroit Tigers; Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers.

“The Debtors have had nearly seven months to formulate a viable plan of reorganization, and yet they have made no progress toward reorganization and no progress in negotiations with their creditors,” the league stated in the motion. “Instead of progressing towards a compromise with their creditors and finding a path out of bankruptcy, since the Petition Date, the Debtors have elected to pick costly and time consuming fights with other third parties.”

MLB states that Diamond Sports Group already knows which agreements it will likely reject in 2024, and also shared that it recognizes that the company has reached out to several clubs, indicating that they are not part of their future plans. Diamond, however, has yet to substantiate the conversation with a subsequent contract rejections, complicating matters and harming its rightsholders, according to the league.

“The Debtors’ conduct therefore smacks as an attempt to leverage the protections of Ch. 11 for improper purposes,” the league said. “There is no question that the Debtors have had sufficient time to reach their decisions, and it is time for them to formally and publicly make their decision clear.”

Diamond Sports Group was supposed to have a restructuring plan submitted for review on Oct. 11, but the company was unable to come to a resolution and requested an extension through and including Dec. 31, 2023. If the Sinclair subsidiary receives its wish, these complex and imperative proceedings could continue into the new year. Major League Baseball argues that the litigation has been both expensive and expedited, and that there has been no progress. Moreover, the premise of exclusivity, it claims, is being used as a “bargaining chip” and puts pressure on the league and its member clubs as it prepares for the new year.

“After nearly seven months of Ch. 11 protection, one extension of exclusivity and more than one month of court-ordered mediation, the Debtors still have no plan of reorganization and no go-forward business plan,” the league stated in the motion. “It is now clear that the Debtors have never been in a position to achieve the requisite consensus to adopt a viable strategy.”

Diamond rejected contracts for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks last season, power it possessed under bankruptcy law, and the league was ready to step in and produce the games. Moreover, those teams received at least 80% of the rights fees owed to them throughout the season.

Within its motion, the league expressed that it expects another team to lose its regional broadcasting rights by the end of the World Series. While that club was not identified, it should be noted that the Minnesota Twins’ pact with Bally Sports North expires immediately upon the conclusion of the 2023 World Series.

If the motion from Major League Baseball is successful, Diamond would have five days to finalize its plans for the 2024 regular season. Furthermore, the league feels that if the company is unable to do so, it would interpret it is a blunt rejection of the deal. MLB believes that the longer the company is in bankruptcy, the less likely a resolution is reached. Court records demonstrate a decline of almost 90% of cash on hand, which equates to under $22 million.

“Diamond disputes MLB’s misguided attempt to oppose a customary extension in a complex, multibillion-dollar restructuring involving myriad stakeholders, with whom Diamond is making significant progress,” Diamond Sports Group said in a statement. “[Diamond] is current in its rights payments and has satisfied its broadcasting obligations to all MLB teams under contract for the now concluded 2023 MLB regular season.”

“The Debtors’ time is up,” the league stated. “There is simply no justification for a further extension of exclusivity. Parties-in-interest should not be compelled to wait endlessly as the Debtors continue to hope that a magic solution will appear.”

Scripps Has Contracts Contingent on Diamond Dropping Teams

BSM Staff
-
0
Scripps Has Contracts Contingent on Diamond Dropping Teams

Diamond Sports Group continues to be embroiled in Ch. 11 bankruptcy and has selectively rejected various rights contracts over the course of the last several months. Major League Baseball, anticipating concomitant issues in advance, established a local media department and duly assumed local broadcasting responsibilities for the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks. Other organizations, such as those in the Phoenix, Ariz. locale, split from the Sinclair subsidiary and moved to other broadcast networks. With the recent start of the National Hockey League season and impending tip-off for the National Basketball Association, a disruption to broadcasts could prove tumultuous as the year goes on.

There are several teams that have concern that Diamond may decide to reject their contracts, which would theoretically infringe upon a source of revenue. As a result, some teams have made contingency plans that will permit them to expeditiously pivot should they suddenly find themselves bereft of a broadcast home. Diamond Sports Group owns and operates the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, which were acquired by Sinclair in 2021. This occurred after The Walt Disney Company received antitrust approval from the U.S. Department of Justice to divest these properties in its acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox.

“Every team associated with Bally is concerned about the future,” E.W. Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said in an interview with Broadcasting & Cable. “As a result, they are all doing contingency planning for the short term and the longer-term. We’ve been able to advance discussions about contingency plans all the way to actually written contracts that if Bally were to go away, we have agreements already in place that we would be the partner to be able to take over distribution and production and begin immediately.”

Scripps Sports is in the midst of expanding into the live broadcast space and has secured several media rights contracts over the last several months. The entity has local broadcast agreements with the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, along with the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League. Additionally, Scripps recently reached an agreement with the WNBA to present Friday night basketball games on the Ion network. Those games attained 6 million viewers over 16 weeks, with 30% of viewing taking place over-the-air.

“We’re really excited to continue to build out our visibility and women’s sports,” Lawlor said. “The more people that start to realize that there’s a franchise and a consistent place where they can find women’s sports, I think it’s going to continue to push this success of the league.”

Lawlor acknowledged that he is in constant discussion with the leagues and that he feels none of them want to see Diamond ultimately become submerged by these challenges, although Sinclair has predicted that resolution. Diamond sued its parent company in August and alleged that it received more than $1.5 billion because of misconduct. The claims relate to actions involving the fraudulent transfer of assets, breach of contract and unjust enrichment among other accusations. A resolution has yet to be reached within this lawsuit, nor has Diamond divulged a restructuring resolution with its creditors to end its bankruptcy.

The challenge Scripps is facing has come from distributors in being willing to carry independent and digital channels. Since they are not affiliated with a traditional network per se, content from certain Scripps networks goes against policies that have been implemented by various policies for dissemination within some of these companies.

“We’re saying we understand, but there’s no station in America that looks like our station,” Lawlor explained. “We have a full-powered independent station now in Las Vegas that has the Stanley Cup champions – every one of their regular season games that’s not on a network.”

The Vegas Golden Knights organization recently started its seventh season in the NHL, and the team has burgeoned in popularity from the moment it officially entered into the league. Tickets to see a contest at T-Mobile Arena are among the most expensive in the sport, and the regional games have frequently attained high ratings compared to the rest of the league.

“I think the distributors need to lean into serving the fans and putting these games on their platforms instead of staying with their archaic rules of not clearing a multicast station or an independent station,” Lawlor said. “….Fans are going to demand that they have access to their sports. They need to get on board.”

Jason Rantz: Media Narratives Will Begin to Shift in Israel

BNM Staff
-
0

Many conservative media pundits have been critical of coverage surrounding the Hamas attacks in Israel. 770 KTTH host Jason Rantz wasn’t in that camp until late this week.

During The Jason Rantz Show Thursday, the host argued that you would have to go digging to be overly critical of the media response to the situation.

“I thought with the exception of MSNBC, up until today, unless I nit-picked, the media has been overall responsible in how it’s been covering the terrorist attack against Israel,” Rantz admitted.

However, he added that he had continuously shared his belief that the narrative would shift. Rantz argued that has started to happen.

“I said by Thursday or Friday, you’re going to start to see a meaningful shift and you’re already starting to see it. Not fully not across the board, but you can already see how it’s being framed, because now that Hamas is getting very close to having to deal with Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza, a land excursion, you’re starting to see some of the networks, some of the media outlets, feel more and more uncomfortable.”

He then pointed to coverage from CNN as proof of his theory.

“Over at CNN, this is directly on their site. Gaza — this is their lead story, their lead point, — ‘Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepened Thursday, with warnings people are at risk of starvation and fuel could run out within hours. Israel is continuing airstrikes and withholding essential supplies in response to Hamas’s brutal terror attacks that killed more than 1,200 people’.

“Now, shouldn’t those two things be reversed and then maybe give some context to what’s going on in Gaza? The humanitarian crisis? Sure, it’s being made worse because of the terrorist attack that Hamas was responsible for, and now they’re paying a consequence. But Gazans have been put in positions where they kept Hamas in power, were supportive, not all of them, but they support them overall. They were celebrating the terrorist attacks. Again, not everyone, but a lot. And Hamas has not put money into infrastructure.”

KFAN Inks Extension with Minnesota Wild

BSM Staff
-
0
KFAN Inks Extension with Minnesota Wild

KFAN has signed an extension that will see the iHeartMedia-owned station remain the radio flagship of the Minnesota Wild.

With the new deal, the NHL franchise will remain with the station through the 2027-2028 season.

“The Wild organization is a great partner, and we are excited to be broadcasting their games for the next five years,” said iHeartMedia Market President Greg Alexander. “With such a loyal fan base spanning the state, we see many opportunities to provide the dynamic and extensive coverage loyal fans want.”

“We are thrilled to continue the amazing partnership with the Minnesota Wild,” added iHeartSports President Kevin LeGrett. “With this extension we will continue to build upon the innovative coverage of the team, incorporate streaming and podcasting elements as well as collaborate on events that will enhance the Wild’s brand throughout the country!”

All preseason, regular season, and Stanley Cup Playoff games featuring the Wild will be heard on the station.

KFAN is currently in its 13th season as the radio flagship of the franchise. The extended deal coincides with the station’s signing of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves to a digital/terrestrial radio hybrid with the iHeartMedia station.

AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act Would Only Cost $1M to Enforce

BNM Staff
-
0

As the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act awaits a vote in Congress, a budget estimate has provided encouraging news for its passage.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the passage of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act — which proposes to require automakers to include the band in new models — would only cost the government $1 million to implement and enforce between 2024 and 2028.

The budget office reported that the funds needed to cover the costs would be taken from the Department of Transportation and the Government Accountability Office.

A report from the organization claims that the money would need to come from the budget because it projects fines from automakers who did not include the AM band would be less than $500,000 during a nine-year period.

The $1 million figure would be a minuscule amount in the more than $6 trillion dollar current federal government budget.

Attention from the proposed bill has already reversed some manufacturers’ course. Ford originally planned to remove AM radio from its new makes and models before deciding against the move after receiving pushback from prominent state and federal lawmakers.

However, other auto brands, primarily electric vehicle manufacturers, have stuck by their decisions to remove access to the band,

Ken Carman: Streaming Games Make You Question If They’re ‘Must See TV’

BSM Staff
-
0
Ken Carman: Streaming Games Make You Question If They’re ‘Must See TV’

Ohio State takes on Purdue in Big Ten action on Saturday, and the game is going to be airing exclusively on Peacock. That’s causing problems for some sports bars in Columbus because they don’t have access to Peacock like they do for Thursday Night Football. That’s a problem for 92.3 The Fan’s Ken Carman.

Carman griped about the Peacock-exclusive game and how it’s forcing fans to sign up for the service or a free trial of the service in order to watch the Buckeyes. But when he learned that it would cost some sports bars $20,000 to work out a way to get the game up through Peacock, Carman wondered if it would really hurt Buckeye fans to not watch a potential in-conference cupcake game.

“My thought was, if you’re at home, yeah, you Peacock for the day or whatever, that’s fine,” he said. “But if you’re at the bar is it must-see television, Ohio State and Purdue? I had a couple of people getting in yesterday saying, ‘Well, they have a chance to lose a Purdue. All these coaches lose at Purdue at least once.’ I go yeah, but you’re not watching the Buckeyes game, ‘Well they could lose we got a chance here.’ Like you want to see your team beat the brakes off Purdue. That’s the whole point of watching a Buckeyes game right?”

Ken Carman mentioned that perhaps the conference and NBC chose to make Purdue/Ohio State a Peacock game over some of their other matchups for fear of facing further backlash from fans who didn’t already subscribe to the service.

“Yes. If they put Ohio State, Penn State on Peacock for sure. Right. You’re going to get a lot of people upset, and you don’t want to look bad because you want people to sample your product,” he said. “It’s perfect with Purdue. Purdue is not a very good football team.”

While this isn’t ideal for bar owners, Ken Carman figured for the Buckeye fans that already have Peacock Saturday will be a nice day to catch the game at home. NBC is banking on that and new sign-ups.

“They want people to sample their product if you’re going to be at home,” he said. “‘Alright I’ll get the free trial,’ and they’re hoping that after the Ohio State game, you click off and there’s either some other live sport you want to see or you know what? They have a very nice range of movies that you could possibly go take a look at.”

1...1,9431,9441,945...2,883Page 1,944 of 2,883