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Laurence Holmes: What is the Draw of Chicago Bulls For National TV?

BSM Staff
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The National Basketball Association recently released its 2023 regular season schedule, which includes the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament just two years ahead of the expiration of its national television media rights deal. Although the Chicago Bulls qualified for the NBA Playoffs last year, most basketball pundits do not believe them to be in a bonafide position to compete for the Larry O’Brien trophy in the upcoming season. Even so, the Bulls have established veteran talent including DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, in addition to young players looking to maximize their potential in Patrick Williams and Coby White.

Dan Bernstein, radio host at 670 The Score in Chicago, Ill., will be watching plenty of Bulls games this year since he discusses the team on the radio and hosts an Audacy podcast about the team. During Friday’s edition of Bernstein & Holmes, he conveyed that he will be locked in to the team once the season begins before asking a question to Laurence Holmes, his co-host, to elicit further discussion.

“How many national games do you think the Bulls have of their 82 regular-season games, including their In-Season Tournament games?,” Bernstein queried.

“I mean, look, it’s the Chicago market, right?,” Holmes responded. “Heritage NBA franchise; the home of Michael Jordan. Zero.”

Holmes’ answer is based on the premise that the team has failed to play winning basketball over most of the last decade, nor has it finished first in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference since the 2010-11 season. Bernstein revealed that the Bulls, in fact, have two nationally-televised games – one on TNT against the Toronto Raptors; the other on ESPN against the New York Knicks.

Additionally, there are two NBC Sports Chicago local broadcasts that will also be presented on ESPN, in addition to three that will be carried on NBA TV. The Bulls rank near the bottom of the list in the national television category despite being in the No. 3 domestic market area (DMA) in the United States.

“They’ve got to earn it,” Holmes said. “There are more interesting teams in the NBA and other teams that play a more interesting style of basketball.”

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors lead the NBA with 41 nationally-televised contests this year, making up half of their regular-season schedule. Placing in second is LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers (40), while Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and the new-look Phoenix Suns are third (37). Holmes is surprised that the Bulls are on national television at all heading into next year, explaining that there is no real reason to watch the team on these broadcasts.

“If you’re looking at this from a cold-hearted executive [standpoint], what’s the draw to putting the Bulls on nationally right now?,” Holmes asked. “Maybe that you see Zach LaVine do something cool?”

Holmes used the National Football League’s Chicago Bears as an example, who are featured on prime-time television games four out of the maximum six times under the league’s existing media rights deal. The team is led by dynamic young quarterback Justin Fields and aims to return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season, giving people a reason to watch. Conversely, Holmes affirms that the Bulls do not play an exciting style of basketball, nor do they show signs of making people care as currently constituted.

“With the Bulls, what’s the draw? What’s the thing?,” Holmes said. “The Bulls-Milwaukee games for whatever reason, I think, are always interesting, and that series, even though it was dominated by the Bucks, I thought it was interesting. Bulls-Toronto, no thank you. No thank you. I don’t know why they picked that game. That’s the wrong game to pick.”

Mark Lazarus: NBC ‘Intrigued’ by the NBA

BSM Staff
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The National Basketball Association is on the cusp of starting its 78th season in just over a month, and there are plenty of storylines to follow within the league. Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James suits up for his 21st year; Kevin Durant plays his first full season with the Phoenix Suns; and the Denver Nuggets trying to repeat for an NBA championship represent some of the many talking points that will be proffered on television over the ensuing six months. Combined with the new In-Season Tournament, rules for resting star players and burgeoning international reach, the Association is flourishing ahead of negotiations for a new national television media rights contract.

The current deal the entity and its partners are operating under provides the NBA $2.6 billion annually, a figure that the Association is reportedly looking to double or possibly triple. There are plenty of interested suitors, which are likely to include existing rights holders The Walt Disney Company (ESPN/ESPN+/ABC) and Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT/NBA TV/Max) starting when the exclusive 45-day negotiating window opens on March 9, 2024.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has stated that the media landscape looks considerably different than the last team the league negotiated a deal, which could imply that digital and/or streaming components will be part of the new pact. Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+ could serve as future homes of games, similar to what the entities are doing with the National Football League and Major League Baseball, respectively.

NBC Sports lost the rights to the NBA in 2002, but it is reportedly interested in making a run to bring the league back to its platforms. During a recent appearance at the IMG Summit, NBCUniversal Media Group Chairman Mark Lazarus emphasized the nature of the appealing property.

“Both NBC and me personally have long histories with [the] NBA from my Turner years,” Lazarus said. “It’s a wonderful product in the States and globally. It’s a really valuable product [that is] culturally relevant in ways maybe some other sports aren’t, [and] it speaks to multiple generations, so we’re intrigued by that. But we’re not an incumbent, and the process will come and go as it does.”

NBC Sports currently holds media rights for Sunday Night Football, prime time television’s No. 1 program for 12 consecutive years, and pays the NFL a reported $2 billion each year for these rights. The network will also serve as the home of the Super Bowl to decide the champions of the 2025, 2029 and 2033 regular seasons under the new 11-year national media rights deal.

Moreover, the network is in discussions to renew its NASCAR deal and existing partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the latter of which expires next October. WWE officially merged with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is operating as a joint venture under the publicly-traded domain “TKO Group Holdings.” NBC also began carrying Big Ten Conference games, reportedly for $350 million per year, to carry between 14 and 16 football games every season through 2029.

“Our priorities are to do the deals with those we’re incumbents in,” Lazarus articulated. “That said, we have long-term deals with the NFL, Big Ten, the Olympics and the Premier League. We’ve made a lot of investment and will continue to invest in sports.”

Comcast Corporation’s year-to-year (YoY) media revenue increased 0.1% to $6.195 billion as divulged in its latest quarterly earnings report. With the cessation of late night talk shows, sketch comedy and other scripted programming because of strikes in Hollywood, the impact of live sports in the modern media ecosystem is being spotlighted. Lazarus, who oversees various segments of the business outside of solely sports, is focused on aggregate growth across the board.

“Putting Big Ten on every Saturday night in prime time was a way for us to invest differently in content and not as much in necessarily scripted entertaining programming, but live sports and live events,” Lazarus said. “Live continues to be critical, whether it’s sports or entertainment events that are live, and then we are a big news company. So live continues to be valuable, whether it’s through media or in-venue.”

Ken Carman: I’m Going To ‘Run With’ Deshaun Watson Podcast

BSM Staff
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Cleveland Browns star quarterback Deshaun Watson and accomplished quarterback coach Quincy Avery recently premiered the opening episode of their in-season podcast, QB Unplugged. Broadcasting through the Lockerverse platform, they will sit down every week and analyze film from high school and college quarterbacks, breaking down what it takes to make it to the National Football League.

Watson, who has had more than 20 women file civil lawsuits against him on similar allegations of sexual misconduct during massage sessions over the past several years, returned to the field last year after serving an 11-game suspension. Additionally, the quarterback was mandated by the league to pay a $5 million fine and take part in a behavioral treatment program in order to resume playing the sport.

Watson will now disseminate his voice regarding the game of football on a weekly basis in an effort to present his perspective on the sport. Doing a podcast amid the regular season, however, is a practice that has drawn criticism towards other athletes but is becoming more of a regular part of the sports media ecosystem. The seasonal endeavor presents quarterbacks in a different light and allows them to express themselves without utilization of a third-party, such as media members covering a team. Ken Carman, morning radio host on 92.3 The Fan, is glad to hear the Browns’ quarterback breaking down plays and providing his insights to the fans.

“I love it,” Carman said. “We put these guys in these spots – and it’s a contractual thing between the NFL and the fans; really a contractual thing between media and the NFL – and give the conduit for the fans, but it’s very hard to give.”

Carman drew a comparison to former NFL coach Gregg Williams, who appeared on yesterday’s edition of The Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima for an interview. Conversing with him in a manner that conveys a sentiment of point-to-point communication rather than the point-to-mass accentuated through microphones and cameras at a press conference comes off to many people as being more authentic in scope.

“You could clearly tell there was a difference between Gregg on the phone with us talking to us and him standing at a podium answering questions from a bunch of people standing in front of him,” Carman said. “They call it a firing squad for a reason basically, so if you have the quarterback a little bit more comfortable here and he’s giving his opinions, I’m going to take this and run with it.”

An important aspect of the podcast’s outside perception will pertain to whether or not the Browns won their football game in the previous week. Carman knows that people will discern that the podcast to be a distraction as a possible explanation for a poor performance, rendering it important that he demonstrates the opposite. Despite that, he is elated to have more organic, firsthand content to consider for discussion on the show.

“I’m going to be able to get this guy on-the-record, in this podcast,” Carman said. “I’m going to support it, and I’m going to want him to do it every single week.”

98.9 The Answer Host Bruce Hooley Undergoes Surgery to Remove Brain Tumor

BNM Staff
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98.9 The Answer host Bruce Hooley has announced a tumor was found in his brain earlier this week after experiencing a medical episode at the station’s Columbus office.

In a video posted to X, Hooley appeared from a hospital bed to share the news.

“I had a seizure at 98.9 The Answer,” Hooley said, before mentioning that he had been hospitalized since the episode. “I’ll be having a tumor removed from the frontal lobe of my brain. So it’s going to be about a couple of weeks at least before you hear me again live on the air of 98.9 The Answer. You’ll be ably taken care of by my friends, Jack Windsor and others. I may join them for guest spots. But I have really no idea how I’m going to come out of this surgery.”

Hooley hosts The Bruce Hooley Show from 11:00 AM-1:00 PM on the Salem Media Group station in Ohio’s capital. He shared that he had no warning that he had developed the tumor.

“I go into this procedure tomorrow, not the least bit scared, not the least bit worried about what might happen. This caught me quite by surprise and my family and all my friends. I had no symptoms in advance of this. Zero symptoms. I had no warning. I had one episode of passing out and being confused at work for about 20 minutes. and led to the discovery of a rather large brain tumor on the left side of my brain. If you are a praying person I would love to have your prayers on my behalf tomorrow for the surgeons and obviously for my family for my girls,” Hooley concluded.

He added that the surgery was scheduled for just after Noon Friday.

Charles Payne Hosts Fundraiser for Boys and Girls Club of Harlem

BNM Staff
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Fox Business Network host Charles Payne hosted a fundraiser Thursday to benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Harlem, and shared his motivation on Fox News Friday.

During FOX & Friends, Charles Payne shared that while there are programs to help African American youth in the city, they don’t often start funneling students into workforce programs until later stages of their education.

“Well, I’ve got a lot of plans… right now, I think blacks are six — maybe six or seven black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Now, there’s a lot of programs out there, to get young black men and women and girls into the workforce,” Charles Payne said. “The problem is most of them start like at 12th grade and they’re really watered down and they don’t mean anything.

“But if you go to New York City public school and you’re in black kid, you probably will be reading at a ninth-grade level. So me trying to help you in 12th grade is ridiculous. I would like to find a way to nurture young talent at the very beginning. First of all, I’m pushing really hard for more rigorous education,” the host continued, “You know, the sort of the — this notion that liberals have that black people aren’t smart enough, so let’s give them a watered-down education has backfired miserably.”

He continued by sharing his dream and motivation for why he’s raising funds for the organization.

“It’s a competitive world. Any kid born in America today is going to be competing for a job with a kid born in New Delhi today. And so it’s a competitive world… so my goal, my dream, my hope is to nurture these kids, to find these kids at a young age. I want to develop CEOs, right? I don’t want to just get black people in the workforce. I want to develop leaders. I want to develop CEOs. I want to develop four-star generals. I want to develop future presidents. That’s what I would love to be able to do.”

ESPN, ABC Using Double-Box View in Monday Night NFL Doubleheader

BSM Staff
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ESPN, ABC Using Double-Box View in Monday Night NFL Doubleheader

The Walt Disney Company will be broadcasting a National Football League doubleheader on prime time television on Monday night as two games air on ESPN and ABC. The opening matchup, starting at 7:15 p.m. EST/4:15 p.m. PST, features the New Orleans Saints visiting the Carolina Panthers on ESPN and simulcasting on ESPN2. One hour later, the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers face off in their rivalry matchup on ABC where Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters will deliver the call of the action.

Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick and Laura Rutledge will work the game from Charlotte, N.C. and several other matchups within Monday Night Football’s “Two Games, One Night” venture throughout the season. This is the first such experiment where there will be more than four hours of consistent NFL action across Disney-owned networks under the new 10-year media rights extension, reportedly worth $2.7 billion annually.

When the two games are overlapping on ESPN and ABC, both broadcasts will cross-promote by drawing attention to the other game during select points. There will be a double-box view that will give people the ability to watch both games at once, although it will not be in the user’s control as to when that appears on the screen. Each network will also have a smaller score bug that will display information about the concomitant game in real time.

When the games hit halftime, Monday Night Countdown host Scott Van Pelt will bring viewers traditional information and analysis, in addition to live look-ins of action going on in the other matchup. He will do this for both matchups before presenting a special postgame show on ESPN with Ryan Clark recapping the Saints-Panthers tilt and providing more extended look-ins to Browns-Steelers. There is no word on what would happen if Browns-Steelers was to finish before Saints-Panthers, although such a scenario is highly unlikely unless the first game were to enter into a protracted 10-minute overtime.

Once Browns-Steelers ends, Van Pelt will transition to his edition of SportsCenter where there will be more game recaps and highlights from the two Monday night NFL matchups and other events around different leagues. Rather than broadcasting live from the site of one of these games, Van Pelt will instead be situated in the network’s Bristol, Conn. studios for the show. He usually hosts his iteration of SportsCenter from Washington, D.C. but has plenty of experience operating out of the network’s flagship studios from the past.

Starting all of the action is Monday Night Countdown featuring the new cast of Van Pelt, Clark, Robert Griffin III and Marcus Spears at 5 p.m. EST/2 p.m. PST on ESPN. ABC will broadcast a special half-hour edition of the show beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST/4:30 p.m. PST before that game begins, preceded by local programming. ESPN2 will also air the Monday Night Football postgame show once the ABC matchup concludes.

Monday Night Football’s “Two Games, One Week” endeavor will return in Week 3 with an NFC clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on ABC; and an interconference showdown featuring the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. Week 14 will mark the final occurrence of the doubleheader scenario. It is not yet known how a potential sale of ABC would affect the company’s media rights deals with professional and collegiate sports entities.

Pat McAfee Has Heard From Jimmy Pitaro, to Meet with Bob Iger Over Swearing on ESPN

BSM Staff
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ESPN brought part of its new daily programming lineup to Boulder, Colo. ahead of the Colorado Buffaloes Week 3 matchup against Colorado State, which will be televised live on ESPN tomorrow at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST. From head coach Deion Sanders to star quarterback Shadeur Sanders and standout two-way player Travis Hunter, the network welcomed various members of the team on its programs. Additionally, Pat McAfee and Stephen A. Smith joined each other’s shows, with McAfee starting his First Take guest spot after being regaled by cheers from the extensive crowd.

As McAfee took the stage and situated himself behind the desk with Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe, show host Molly Qerim asked if he was enjoying the early days of having his show on ESPN. McAfee inked a multiyear, multi-million dollar licensing deal that provides ESPN with 235 episodes of The Pat McAfee Show available on linear and digital platforms.

McAfee also continues to remain a member of College GameDay and has been bringing his program to the host city each week. While he was able to use explicit language freely on YouTube, he is prohibited from doing so on ESPN and thus has an active censor making sure nothing slips through the cracks. In the last week though, he has accidentally neglected these parameters.

“I’m enjoying the hell out of it,” McAfee answered. “You know I dropped two F-bombs on ESPN over the last six days.”

Qerim continued the conversation by asking him how ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro felt about the matter. Pitaro, along with The Walt Disney Company’s chief executive officer, Bob Iger, and ESPN President of Content Burke Magnus met and recruited McAfee to bring his program to ESPN. In the end, he divulged that the show had four to five major offers, but ultimately decided to settle with ESPN, who he had been working with on College GameDay in the year prior.

“I got a text; I did get a text,” McAfee said, referring to a message from Pitaro. “I’ve got a meeting with Bob Iger actually next week. There’s a whole conversation to take place, but I’m loving it. The ESPN people are so kind and friendly and hospitable.”

Sharpe, who made his ESPN debut last week and taking part in an on-site edition of First Take for the first time this year, concurred with McAfee and has enjoyed his time with the “Worldwide Leader.” The program has a disclaimer that is placed on the screen before each show, referencing “cuss words” as the way “humans in the real world talk.” The authenticity he brings to the air is greatly valued and encompasses who he is as a sports media talent; however, he might need to be more careful going forward. Nonetheless, McAfee wants to continue augmenting the reach and relevancy of his afternoon program and is excited to be with ESPN.

Before the conversation turned to football, though, McAfee made mention of the ratings First Take has been receiving recently, which are under increased scrutiny because of the return of Undisputed on FOX Sports 1 following a two-month hiatus. Smith himself re-posted an article from Front Office Sports on X about the show’s position with Undisputed despite the latter only being back on the air for three days at the time.

The ESPN featured commentator has spoken about his competitive drive on numerous occasions, but also conveyed that he does not see it as a battle against former co-host Skip Bayless. On live television though, Smith displayed his self-efficacy and gratitude towards the early head-to-head success.

“That’s what we do,” Smith said. “That’s ‘we’ baby, that’s ‘we.’ All of us.”

Bloomberg TV to Launch New Morning Show

BNM Staff
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Bloomberg TV to Launch New Morning Show

Bloomberg TV has announced the launch of Bloomberg Brief, a daily one-hour morning show analyzing market news, data, and analysis.

Dani Burger and Manus Cranny will anchor the program from New York. Cranny joins after previously hosting Daybreak: Middle East from Dubai. Burger had previously been based in London to host Daybreak: Europe.

“Manus and Dani have always been a dynamic combination, so I’m thrilled to show what they can do in the critical 5 AM hour,” Bloomberg Television head Julie Alnwick McHale said.

“Through their years of experience covering business and finance in Europe and the Middle East, they’re well positioned to deliver the global scope that defines our best programming.”

The show will debut on Monday, September 18. It will air weekdays from 5:00-6:00 AM ET.

Taylor Rooks Explains Different Goals of Sideline Reporting vs. Feature Reporting

BSM Staff
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As Amazon Prime Video kicked off its second season of Thursday Night Football, you probably saw Taylor Rooks and the feature interview she did with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Rooks has been the features reporter for the TNF package and there is a different type of prep she does compared to other reporters.

Rooks was a guest on the Front Office Sports Today podcast and she said that in addition to doing her research on the player she is featuring for Amazon, Bleacher Report or TNT, she also wants to get an idea of what type of questions she can ask.

“One of my favorite things is watching all of their interviews and not only to get information about them. I like to see how they responded to a question, what they talked about longer, what they talked about shorter. What was the interview they were doing that made them want to discuss certain things? What was very clear that they did not want to keep on going and how can I ask it in a way that they want to talk more? Whenever I talk to younger journalists, I always say that you should watch the interview not just for the content, but for the interaction too. I tend to do that when I have one coming up.”

Rooks has had experience in her career as a sideline reporter in addition to what she does now. The move to studio features has allowed her to do more in interviews.

“I love having more time. You can obviously make the guest feel more comfortable, but then you are also able to talk about the things that you want as opposed to just the things that you have to. When you have that small amount of time, what’s the game story, what do they want to hear? In my experience, the things that are most interesting are things where you need time to discuss, ask follow-ups, see how they feel, why they did it and what led up to it and things like that. Having more time, to me, gets to the meat of it which is just what I prefer to do.

“There is a very specific and impressive skill that comes with career sideline reporters to be able to ask the right question, get the right bite, keep everything on track, wrangle everybody. That is a job within itself. I think with longform, it’s such a contained environment and I just feel like you can really talk in a way that you don’t get to in any other spots.”

Brandon Tierney: No Topic Has Ever Owned WFAN Like Aaron Rodgers to the Jets

BSM Staff
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WFAN has been on the air in New York City for 36 years. In all that time, plenty of local sports stories have carried days or even weeks of programming. Brandon Tierney believes they were all left in the dust in 2023.

“WFAN was born in ’87. In all of these years, with all of the hosts, no person or singular topic owned the air space for as long as Rodgers,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. “8 months. Daily dissection.”

It is astounding to think that the defining story of WFAN’s time on the air came without legends like Mike Francesa, Chris Russo or Don Imus. Tierney isn’t wrong about the amount of discourse though. Aaron Rodgers’s arrival in New York generated content for stations, digital outlets and television networks around the country.

For all of the anticipation, the Rodgers story turned on a dime on Monday night when the new quarterback went down just four plays into his New York Jets career. Tierney made headlines for his rant the following day, declaring that he believes in Zach Wilson’s ability to still take the team to the playoffs.

What would the addition of Aaron Rodgers supplanted? There have been no shortage of superstars coming to New York or controversies involving local players and teams to choose from.

Tierney thinks the answer is obvious, but he also says there is no real contest.

“A-Rod/PED’s a distant second?”

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