Steak Shapiro told his audience that he has been in the media business for a long time. What he saw on First Take on Wednesday was “one of the all-time TV moments that I have ever seen.”
That moment was Chris Russo’s admission that he will eat a THC gummy, drink a cocktail in the middle of the day and bet $10,000 on Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes to beat Oregon on Saturday.
He joked that promoting get drunk, betting thousands of dollars and taking drugs should be proof to critics that “ESPN ain’t that woke.”
Drew Butler, Shapiro’s co-host for the Thursday edition of The Steakhouse, said that what caught most people’s attention was the facial expressions and reactions of NFL analyst Marcus Spears.
He added that he was shocked to see something like that on ESPN, who just went through some very public layoffs which have drawn real criticism.
“They take a lot of heat for having to be righteous, politically correct, kind of milquetoast at times,” Shapiro agreed. “Listen, I don’t know that they’re related.”
He added that it would be different if Russo had said that he was going to roll a joint a get high. He said the afternoon that was described though is something that isn’t just unobjectionable to many, it is probably very appealing to a lot of people.
“Any women listening now may envision your husband just like this and any dude listening right now? Again, there’s plenty of guys that’ll wake up and run a marathon, right? Or just go hike for 4 hours. And that’s great, too,” he said. “But then there are other guys that want this out of their Saturday.”
“There’s certain entertainment in listening to a man who simply has nothing to lose,” Butler concluded.
SiriusXM host Howard Stern has received pushback from his insistence that being called “woke” is a compliment. Many questioned what happened to the former shock jock legend. Fox News host Sean Hannity and radio host Clay Travis have joined that camp.
“I admire him as a broadcaster. And one of the things that was quintessential Howard is he took criticism, dealt with it head-on, and gave an honest answer. That defines his career. I give him a lot of credit for that,” Hannity said during his Fox News program Wednesday.
“I don’t know what happened. The guy that I felt I listened to would have loved an iconoclastic straightforward, hard-hitting guy like Trump,” Sean Hannity continued. “He would not be hiding in his closet afraid of COVID. That’s not the guy that I thought I knew.”
“He is a radio legend. And you and I both do radio daily, so we understand what that requires. But the Howard Stern today would, as you said, hate — absolutely hate — the Howard Stern of 25 years ago and vice versa,” agreed Travis. “And I think he’s an emblematic example, Sean, of what happens when people got broken by Donald Trump and COVID. The combination of the two of them this guy didn’t leave his house for two and a half years.”
Clay Travis continued by noting Stern has gotten away from what made him famous.
“Howard Stern’s popularity was his rebellion against the status quo. Now he’s become a zealous advocate of the status quo and of authority. He’s become the opposite of what he used to be.”
“He’s being honest,” admitted Sean Hannity. “That I can applaud and appreciate. I do. That has defined him his whole career, but I kinda liked the other guy a lot better.”
This is the first year in a long time that Notre Dame fans have had to share NBC with other college football teams. The network is carrying Big Ten games every Saturday night. The two worlds collide this week when Noah Eagle and Todd Blackledge call the Fighting Irish’s visit to Ohio State.
“Do Notre Dame fans understand that this is not going to be a homer broadcast this week and that Tom Hammond, Dick Enberg, Dan Hicks, Don Criqui, they’re not walking through that door?” Anthony Lima asked Eagle Thursday morning on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland.
Eagle said it is a question that could best be answered by Notre Dame fans, but he is a professional. Last week, he and Blackledge called Purdue vs. Syracuse, which is Eagle’s alma mater.
“I will be, as I said last week, when I got to call my alma mater, I will be Neutral Noah, and that is the case throughout the year, no matter who we’re doing,” he said.
He added that he isn’t really sure what it is Notre Dame fans expect from the broadcast on Saturday night. The Big Ten is now just as much a part of NBC’s sports portfolio as Fighting Irish football. He added that his only agenda is capturing the excitement of two top-ten teams facing off in an historic venue.
“I would quote the wonderful and amazingly talented Biggie Smalls that ‘if you don’t know, now you know,” Eagle said. “It’s going to be a neutral game. It’s going to be a neutral call. I mean, this is big time Saturday night.”
Comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape and sexual misconduct by four women, which led to his popular YouTube channel being demonetized. Glenn Beck shared his belief that Russell Brand is akin to Howard Stern.
While discussing the situation on The Glenn Beck Program, the nationally syndicated radio host argued that the similarities between Brand and Stern are striking.
“Russell Brand is kind of like they’re Howard Stern,” Beck said. “You knew exactly what you were getting in those days with Russell Brand, ok? Just think Howard Stern.”
Beck then read a portion of a report from the BBC claiming that Brand was the face of the “seedier side of pop media culture” in the 2000s.
“Could I just ask the BBC to turn on the radio and listen to the lyrics of songs they’re now playing? Because I guarantee there’s something playing on the BBC about somebody’s butt doing something,” said Beck.
Glenn Beck then used a specific example that equated Brand with Stern.
“In a Brand interview with Jimmy Savile, he apparently offered up his very attractive assistant to go meet him naked. Sounds like Howard Stern, right? This is in 2007. He said this to the BBC host. Another BBC host said ’You go ahead and take my assistant here she Oh, she’ll get naked’. Ha. Funny,” joked Beck before noting that at the time, no one knew Savile was a serial child predator.
Members of the sports media continue to question ABC’s decision not to show a replay of Nick Chubb’s injury during Monday night’s game between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers.
“That’s insane,” he said. “They showed us Damar Hamlin dying on the field.”
PFT Commenter added that showing a replay may actually have been the smarter move.
“So when it happened, Joe Buck was like, ‘And I’m being told that we’re not going to show the replay it’s that bad.’ As Joe Buck saying that, you hear the crowd reaction in Pittsburgh to them seeing the replay live,” he said. “And to me, that was almost worse than watching the replay because you hear that, and it’s a bunch of Pittsburgh fans who want Nick Chubb out of the game. They don’t want him injured, but they obviously don’t want to see him scoring touchdowns against them. And the entire crowd in Pittsburgh is just like, ‘oh, dear God, what did I just see?’. So what would we have to do? We’re basically entrapped into going online and looking for the replay.”
Big Cat echoed Dan Patrick’s belief that the appropriate thing to do would have been to show one replay and make a disclaimer so that the audience is clear that what they are about to see is brutal. He said that not showing the replay probably sent a lot of people to social media and to YouTube looking for video of the play to make the call for themselves.
PFT agreed.
“When Joe Buck says it’s so bad, we’re not going to show it to you, that’s like your parents being like, ‘No, you’re not allowed to watch this movie. It’s got tits in it.’ And then I’m like, ‘Wow, Braveheart’s awesome!’”
With a new season on the horizon, TNT is not taking any chances with its NHL coverage. The network has inked its entire team of studio analysts to multi-year contract extensions.
Wayne Gretzky, Paul Bissonnette, Anson Carter and Henrik Lundqvist all have new deals. They will once again join Liam McHugh on the NHL on TNT set.
Gretzky, Bissonnette and Carter have all been with TNT since the network took over part of the NHL’s television rights ahead of the 2021-22 season. Lundqvist joined the crew last year after retiring following 15 seasons with the New York Rangers.
TNT will carry 62 regular season NHL games this year. The first one will be the Chicago Blackhawks’ visit to Boston on October 11.
As previously announced, TNT’s NHL games will all be available on the new B/R Sports tier available as an add-on for Max subscribers.
Mike Stone will leave 97.1 The Ticket after the Super Bowl. The station already knows what is going to happen with its morning show. Jim Costa will take over, joining Jon Jansen and Heather Park.
“This is a dream come true for me. My whole career, I’ve chased the chance to build a show on 97.1 The Ticket,” Costa said in a press release. “I grew up listening to this station and rooting for these teams. To start the conversation in Detroit every morning is special. Jon Jansen and I are a good contrast; we play off each other well, and I’m excited for the show we will create along with Heather and the entire morning show crew.”
The new show will be called Costa & Jansen. It will make its debut in February.
Costa has primarily hosted on the weekends and been very busy as a fill-in host since joining The Ticket in early 2021. Prior to that, he served as program director and afternoon host on ESPN 96.1 in Grand Rapids.
“I’m thrilled that Jim Costa will be the next co-host of the 97.1 The Ticket morning show,” said Debbie Kenyon, Senior Vice President and Market Manager, Audacy Detroit. “Jim has spent the last few years building a great relationship with his listeners. We look forward to the talents of Jim Costa and Jon Jansen entertaining and informing the Detroit sports audience and can’t wait to see how the show evolves in 2024.”
On Thursday night ahead of the New York Yankees’ matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays, ESPN featured commentator Stephen A. Smith will be on hand at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, N.Y. to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. Smith, a fixture on ESPN programs First Take and NBA Countdown, along with hosting his own podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, grew up in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, N.Y. and frequently watched Yankees games with his father. Despite living closer to Shea Stadium, he was not allowed to watch any New York Mets games until the age of 18, solidifying his love for the “Bronx Bombers.”
Throughout Thursday’s edition of First Take, Smith mentioned how excited he was for the moment and practiced throwing a baseball with ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky. One day earlier, however, he was criticized for a rare baseball take he made on the show pertaining to Los Angeles Angels superstar two-way player Shohei Ohtani.
Smith articulated that Ohtani is not worth $500 million because of the empty seats he frequently sees when the Angels take the field. After a promising first half, the Halos have struggled mightily down the stretch run and currently sport a 69-83 record, good for fourth place in the American League West division.
Within his podcast, he received a call from Preston Miklich who operates a YouTube channel focused on baseball called “Fuzzy.” The outlet has 469,000 subscribers and is a popular spot for baseball fans to catch up on news and rumors while also hearing informed opinions about the game.
During his conversation with Smith, Milkich took the time to inform him that the Angels are fourth in road attendance in the 2023 Major League Baseball regular season. In his response, the host appreciated being informed of the statistic and divulged that while it is an adequate figure compared to the competition, it may be comparatively underwhelming because of the diminished popularity of the game in recent years.
Attendance for Major League Baseball games has been on the rise throughout the 2023 season, with the league reporting a 9% increase year-over-year (YoY). Smith previously made insensitive comments about the Japanese superstar, saying that it was bad that one of the game’s preeminent superstars could not speak English, and apologized after an onslaught of criticism.
“We’re just wondering when it comes to your takes with baseball – we want you to talk baseball; we want ESPN to bring Baseball Tonight back, we miss it dearly,” Miklich explained, “but the baseball community almost thinks that you kind of peak on feelings and we think, ‘Okay, is baseball going to be done on ESPN?’”
The amount of baseball programming on the network has diminished in recent years compared to other properties, yet there is still an edition of Baseball Tonight that airs before the weekly broadcast of Sunday Night Baseball. In response to Miklich’s question, Smith bluntly expressed, “Tell the baseball community to shut the hell up.”
After pushback from Miklich, Smith chided him for interrupting his response and asked him to let him finish his statement. He then divulged that he does not have much time to watch baseball because of the responsibilities he has in other sports, revealing that he only watches New York Yankees games. Smith defended his position because of the fact that First Take rarely discusses baseball and, when it does, often has experts on the panel, such as Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo.
The Walt Disney Company pays a reported $550 million annually for MLB rights, which includes Sunday Night Baseball, the MLB Little League Classic, Home Run Derby and Wild Card series.
“I’m not on High Heat on the MLB Network trying to talk about baseball as if I’m watching every game and I’m an aficionado,” Smith said. “I don’t get to do that.”
Smith reminded Miklich that Russo, who hosts his own show on MLB Network, agreed with him that Ohtani is not worth $500 million. Moreover, he acknowledged that the morning debate program does not address many baseball topics because of the landscape of sports media consumers engaging with the content.
“People don’t care ratings-wise when we’re watching baseball,” Smith said. “We’re trying to change that.”
NPR has promoted Whitney Maddox to its Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
“I am excited to be a part of shaping the company’s strategy for DE&I,” said Maddox. “I am fully aware that the reason my career has blossomed at NPR is because of my supervisor Keith Woods. Keith is the reason that I feel confident stepping into this VP role and he is the reason why I will succeed.”
Before joining NPR, Maddox worked at Georgetown University as Assistant Director of Leadership Development and Racial Justice Initiatives. She also was an adjunct professor teaching about value-based leadership.
Maddox has led diversity, equity, and inclusion training at more than 250 stations with the network since joining in 2021. After developing a program called STAR — Stand Together Against Racism — at Georgetown, Maddox implemented the training at NPR for more than 1,000 staffers.
“Since joining us nearly three years ago, Whitney has, in many ways, changed who we are and how we see ourselves as a company,” Chief Diversity Officer Keith Wood said. This promotion recognizes Whitney’s increasing influence across NPR and the larger Network and her emergent influence on the company’s direction and that of our Member stations.”
Earlier this week, SiriusXM host Howard Stern claimed it was a compliment to be called woke. While Fox News host Jesse Watters disagrees, he did defend Stern from the criticism.
During The Five, Watters argued that he’s been a longtime listener of Stern’s, adding that despite accusations to the contrary, Stern is still not politically correct.
“I listened to his show since the 90s. I like him. I think he’s a funny guy,” said Watters. “(Stern) doesn’t understand what woke is. He’s not woke when it comes to political correctness, when it comes to gender, when it comes to race, when it comes to feminism. He’s not woke when it comes to any of that stuff.”
He added that not being politically correct has led to Stern’s continued success.
“He says ridiculous things that if this was said on this channel or on any other cable channel, he would absolutely get in huge trouble,” continued Watters. “But since he’s on satellite and he’s been very successful on satellite, he can say whatever he wants. He’s not doing the same types of things, but he’s changed his way 30 years older, but he’s still pretty edgy.”
After being accused of being a suck-up to Stern, Watters admitted that he would not be a good guest on the show.
“I would never go on that show. It’s too dangerous,” joked Jesse Watters. “Me on that show? Are you kidding me?”
