KLIF morning co-host Amy Chodroff expressed gratitude in a LinkedIn post for the radio industry but stated that she now looks forward to a change since her children are grown.
Last month, Chodroff announced her departure from radio station KLIF after 12 years of co-hosting with Dave Williams. She is leaving the industry entirely and said she was open to other opportunities.
“No more 2:45 AM alarms, working holidays, missing evening events, and taking vacations outside of ratings periods,” she wrote. “A close friend asked me today if I would be sad or depressed. My answer? No.”
Chodroff stated that she had been planning to resign from the station for the past eight months and emphasized that it was ultimately her decision.
“There is a time and place for everything. I’m grateful this job gave me the opportunity to have a wonderful career and raise my kids. Now, my kids are grown, and it’s time for me to live a life I design,” she added.
Work ethic and persistence are at the center of who Kay Adams is as a broadcaster, and she has demonstrated both qualities from the beginning of her career in sports media. Always looking for a new challenge, Adams enters each day hosting her show, Up & Adams on FanDuel TV, focused on bringing fans engaging and entertaining content while improving as a personality. In moving away from NFL Network, she bet on herself to learn how to talk about sports on a network belonging to a sportsbook.
FanDuel is the sports betting leader in the U.S. market, garnering almost 46% of the total online market share, according to recent data from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming Consulting and Market Research. Entering the role, Adams had minimal knowledge about the specifics of the growing sector and is learning as she goes. In the end, she made the choice to join FanDuel TV because of the company’s sterling reputation and the work of Amy Howe, its chief executive officer.
“It was becoming a bigger part of our content and a bigger part of our shows; our sponsorship; how we pay the bills, and it’s sort of where the industry’s going,” Adams said. “Everybody who’s going to be in those realms wants content because those people wanted real estate on the NFL slate that I was on, even on Good Morning Football within those three hours.”
Adams had not centered her conversations about sports around betting, but had familiarity on how to interact with football fans. When Adams attended college at the University of Missouri, she initially enrolled in a program centered on traditional journalism and reporting; however, she ended up gravitating towards editorializing and providing her opinion about sports. During those years, Adams took a job at a comedy club and worked to gain the opportunity to go on stage just so she could emcee and introduce the next act.
At the start of her freshman year in college, Adams discovered that her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She frequently made the trip from Columbia, Mo. to Chicago, Ill. so she could spend time with her family and offer her support.
Adams is the daughter of two Polish immigrants who assimilated to life in the United States and did everything they could to make ends meet. Her father worked at the same screw factory in Melrose Park, Ill. for 43 years, while her mother also performed factory work and eventually cleaned houses and hotel rooms. Sports consumption was limited in their household, occasionally watching football but never attending any games in person.
“[They] did anything that they could, all the overtime hours just to make ends meet,” Adams said. “I think I just looked at them and got my work ethic from them to just not say ‘No,’ even if it was hard.”
Adams began working as a bartender at Willie’s Pub and Pool Bar, an established institution within Columbia. As time went on, she became familiar with some of the regular customers and would debate sports with them throughout her shift. Adams worked more than she attended class and applied for many internships, ultimately being brought on at The CW Network on the street team to hand out fliers about upcoming shows.
While she was there, Adams became friendly with her college classmate Carissa Culiner, who told her that she was being promoted at Clear 99, a country music radio station owned by Zimmer Radio Group. Eager for any potential opportunities, Adams applied to take over the midnight to 6 a.m. slot with minimal knowledge of the genre. While she exaggerated her knowledge of the category during the interview, she studied so she would be prepared to take the air.
“I think I got a lot of confidence learning on the fly, and I’ve always been really good at chaos; at sort of live TV, live bullets [and] live action,” Adams said. “Nothing is more exciting to me, and there’s nothing that I think in thrive in more.”
As people within the building discerned Adams’ passion for sports, she was invited to appear on sister station KTGR, the local ESPN Radio affiliate. Soon thereafter, Adams found out that one of her customers at the bar worked at the same radio station as her, but was leaving to join SiriusXM. In their conversation, the customer implored her to appear on the outlet as a news anchor, reading social media posts from fans and talking about fantasy baseball. There was no hesitation on Adams’ part, especially since she had not outlined a backup plan should she not succeed in sports media.
Taking that swing for the fences landed Adams as one of the first members of the new fantasy sports channel at SiriusXM, appearing on The Fantasy Drive with Kyle Elfrink and Ray Flowers. With each repetition, she gradually became more confident.
Around that time, she started canvassing media outlets for job openings, one of which was KSDK-TV in St. Louis, Mo. The network had a partnership with lifestyle website Metromix, which eventually allowed her to make content. Adams vividly remembers her boyfriend at the time following her at restaurants making pieces and trying to earn space on the website. What she really coveted was the St. Louis Cardinals’ in-stadium hosting job and had the tenacity to continue pressing those within the organization for an opportunity.
“I really wanted to be on camera [and] wanted to be talking to the 80,000 people – that was my goal,” Adams said. “I just sort of relentlessly forced my vision onto people and got it.”
Adams offered to work the job for free while bartending at Nick’s Pub until 5 a.m. and driving to Columbia on weekends to host her country music show. In her first season with the team, the Cardinals ended up winning the World Series in a dramatic seven-game series against the Texas Rangers, resulting in a lengthy fall schedule.
Once baseball entered its offseason, she worked for the St. Louis Rams as a stage manager, coordinating elements of the game presentation at the Edward Jones Dome. When the teams were not playing, she was managing a pizza shop in the area and sought to execute all of her roles to perfection with little to no sleep.
As Adams continued to improve, she began to be considered for other hosting roles and ultimately landed with NBC Sports Network to lead Fantasy Football Live. Additionally, she hosted Fantasy Zone with DIRECTV on the NFL RedZone Channel and a bi-weekly gambling fantasy show with Rotoworld on NBC Sports Radio. Outside of sports media, Adams worked as a special correspondent for pop culture programs including Extra and Entertainment Tonight.
After years of demonstrating an indefatigable willingness to succeed, Adams was hired by NFL Media to host a new morning show, Good Morning Football, on NFL Network. The cast of the show did not meet each other until 48 hours before their first episode.
“We were, ‘Let’s come in – rage against the sports media machine a little bit,’” Adams described. “It was something that we built from, in our opinion, nothing. Now granted, super supportive people [at the] NFL – nice to have 32 billionaires being supportive of you – but you kind of had to win them over too.”
Adams remained with Good Morning Football through its first six years on the air. At the same time, she continued working in the entertainment space as the host of The TV Show! through People Magazine alongside Lawrence K. Jackson, while also hosting virtual games on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire app. Once her contract with NFL Media was nearing its expiration, Adams decided that she wanted to move in a different direction.
“I’m not afraid to take a risk,” Adams said. “I’m not afraid to start something new; in fact, to me, it’s very rewarding to start something and have it grow.”
Just where that opportunity would be was unbeknownst to her, but she was aware that there was interest from FanDuel. Adams had previously worked with the sports betting company and heard of their plans to launch a full TV lineup. After hearing the vision of Amy Howe, the company’s chief executive officer, she inked a deal and was announced as a headliner of FanDuel TV – which also included content from Pat McAfee and Bill Simmons.
“I take a lot of responsibility in being the person who’s on the forefront of that,” Adams said. “It’s like building an airplane as you fly; that’s sort of what we’re doing and so I’ve embraced it. The biggest challenge is you sort of feel like you’re the first one to a party and you’re early and you’re like, ‘They’re still setting up the music.’”
Adams brings legitimate enthusiasm and energy to the show each day. She wants her hour on the network to be worthwhile for viewers. The spotlight, however, is always placed on the guests who join the show, with Adams functioning as both a catalyst for conversation and ebullient participant.
Throughout the 2023 National Football League regular season, Adams will welcome several active and former players to the show as weekly guests. Some of the stars set to join her include San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel, free agent wide receiver Jarvis Landry, former safety Darius Butler and four-time Super Bowl champion tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Out of all the people announced as part of the new lineup though, Adams feels a certain enigma around New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. Even though he plays in the largest media market in the country, the fourth-year professional comes off as a private, reserved individual to her.
“I think he’s a huge challenge for me because he doesn’t like to say a lot,” Adams explained, “but there’s this thing about scarcity that was really important to me…. To just sort of anticipate him week in, week out will be so, so fun, and that adds tremendous value because I think I am so naturally curious about these players and these pieces for the NFL.”
Everything Adams does as a host is predicated on authenticity. While there is planning and research conducted before each new episode, she embraces a degree of entropy and has the proficiency and wherewithal to adapt in real time.
“The fourth wall is broken; the jig is up,” Adams said. “It’s 2023; we all have to roll on. I’ve almost shot my eye out with a bottle of champagne, [and] we drink on Fridays on my show at 8 in the morning here in LA, so it is definitely a fun look at sports.”
Adams’ show predominantly focuses on the NFL, but has implemented coverage of the National Basketball Association as well with the presence of FanDuel partner and NBA insider Shams Charania. There are also plenty of conversations about other sports too, including golf and horse racing.
“Being in a place where it’s not just the NFL that I’m talking about has been really refreshing and something that I’m really hoping to advance this season,” Adams said. “The balance is a gift; the content is a gift.”
Sports betting is legal in more than 30 states across the country, albeit in different capacities, but the content itself extends beyond those municipalities and imbues fans to take a vested interest in various outcomes. ESPN reached a deal to launch its own sportsbook in partnership with PENN Entertainment later in the fall, equipping its vast content portfolio to market the product. The parties have the goal of reaching at least 20% market share of total revenue by 2027 as part of the 10-year agreement.
“The ESPN-PENN deal sort of reinforces that I’m on the right path with Up & Adams, and I feel really good about where that sits,” Adams said. “It’s about growing that show. I’m an executive producer of that show, which is amazing. It’s a really nice partnership with FanDuel where the sky’s the limit.
Fans are able to watch Up & Adams on FanDuel TV through a linear provider or over-the-top (OTT) platform, and can also listen as a podcast across multiple platforms. The show recently started airing live on YouTube as well, providing Adams an open line of communication with viewers wherein she continuously exhibits her congenial personality. There are more distribution partnerships to be announced in the future, and Adams is excited about the possibilities to make the program even more accessible to consumers.
Adams considers herself fortunate to have the program renewed for a second season within a volatile content ecosystem where there is a plethora of turnover. Most importantly though, she has an inherent gratitude for FanDuel TV and the fact that she has an outlet on which to broadcast.
“I don’t even know what the goal would be with the show other than it being a place where I can express myself,” Adams said. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be so much fun.”
While she enjoys hosting her daily program from the studio, Adams is looking to attend more games and interact with the teams in-person. It was an impetus for her seven-team training camp tour throughout August, during which she interviewed Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“Some of these guys and these vibes from these teams you can sort of learn and pick up by just being there a couple of minutes,” Adams said. “It’s why the value of beat reporters is so big because they’re in there every day. Another big thing that we’re trying to do more of, and we did a lot last year, is pulling the people that are there; pulling in the best of the beats to come and give us their glimpses.”
As the turn pages on a new season of Up & Adams, she is satisfied with the state of the overall state of the program and is focused on helping it grow. Even though Adams has been on many other networks, the show is hardly derivative and instead wholly organic in the methods by which it propounds talking points and produces content. For Adams herself, she has had conversations about future endeavors and has a goal of appearing on a prime-time live game broadcast.
Adams references an expression from Hockey Hall of Fame forward and current NHL on TNT studio analyst Wayne Gretzky to describe her mindset: “Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” As a result, she does not rule out the potential of hosting an alternate game presentation in the future and is always willing to experiment to stay ahead of the curve.
“Until I get it, my goal is going to be the big-kid table,” Adams said. “I would like the live game [and] love the energy of being live…. For me to be able to have the opportunity on the grand stage of the broadcast for the game, that would be my goal; the pregame or something like that. That has evaded me, but it just sort of makes sense.”
I have never spoken to, interviewed, or met Jay Glazer, but I have to be honest, I really like Jay Glazer. The FOX Sports NFL Insider is a unique breed. A lot of reporters make headlines, Jay Glazer makes a difference. A lot of reporters get scoops, Jay Glazer gets real. A lot of reporters save sources and information, Jay Glazer, quite literally, saves lives.
In his book Unbreakable, Glaser candidly chronicles his career as well as his battles and success in overcoming anxiety. Moreover, he shows readers how they can do the same. His podcast of the same name features guests talking about their personal histories with mental health struggles.
Glazer’s Unbreakable Performance Center in West Hollywood brings athletes, actors, musicians, and business people together. He not only trains them physically, but also psychologically, helping them to live happier and healthier lives.
In 2015, Glazer and former Green Beret and Seattle Seahawk Nate Boyer founded Merging Vets & Players (MVP), addressing the challenges of combat veterans and professional athletes. The organization empowers veterans and athletes providing them with a new team to assist with transition and personal development.
Do you see what I mean? A lot of reporters are first with a headline, Jay Glazer is first in line to help.
With his background in reporting, mental health, physical fitness, and mixed martial arts, Glazer is the only guy in the business who can break a story, break a habit, break a sweat, and break your face.
And let’s be honest, Jay Glazer does not look the part of the buttoned down television reporter. He is short and bald, and his suits seem ready to split at the seams, clinging to his barrel-chested, muscular frame like a wetsuit.
Talented reporters like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Jeff Passan, and Zach Lowe look like National Honor Society students. Glazer looks like the guy who takes the National Honor Society students’ lunch money and spends it on whey protein. He is stocky and thickset – basically a fire hydrant with a goatee and great contacts.
There are a lot of great reasons to watch FOX’s NFL Sunday pregame show. Reason 1 is the best NFL game day studio cast on television. Curt Menefee, Howie Long, Michael Strahan, Jimmy Johnson, and the timeless Terry Bradshaw are eternally captivating and interesting. Still, the best part of the show is Glazer.
When he provides the latest injury reports, you know he’s right as to who is playing or scratched for a game, and you know he has done his homework. Glazer doesn’t guess. He has first-hand contact with players, coaches, and trainers.
His ability to chase down a story, cultivate reliable sources, and present the information in an urgent, entertaining, and excitable manner are unparalleled in the business. Jay Glazer doesn’t just work at his job, he lives it. You can just tell that the guy throws everything he has into everything that he is doing.
Glazer also uses his vast social media presence to preach his gospel of physical and mental wellness. In a recent Instagram post @jayglazer, he talks about his past and credits Bradshaw with the turnaround.
Glazer wrote, “Since 2005, every freaking time I filmed a show and often during meetings, either before or during, I had these crazy attacks feeling the walls were caving in. I had no idea what it was, but man they were scary!
“For years and years, I was figuring (it) had to be heart issues, and I was going to doctors for it until I heard my brother and teammate Terry Bradshaw describe anxiety and BAM! Lightbulb went on and for the first time, I could deal with it and learn I was safe. I’m forever grateful to him.”
That is a powerful quote, but Glazer is to powerful quotes what Donald Trump is to controversial Tweets. Here is a sample of some of Glazer’s best motivational messages:
“Vulnerability is what makes us so damn strong and badass. It’s not the muscles or the gun battles, the punches or shoulder pads, it’s the heart we show and tears we flow together that truly show our strength.”
“Mental Health checkup for today to have something out there that’s real rather than compare ourselves to everyone else’s filtered freaking highlights that just make us feel worthless. I just want to get back to giving y’all updates that are real, raw, sometimes not pretty, but always authentic.”
“Be the victor, not the victim. Every obstacle, wall, problem, adversity is a chance for us to overcome something. We can choose to view every problem as being a victim to it or the chance to overcome it, the chance grow stronger from overcoming it. Be the victor!”
“That idle time when we are left to let our minds make up their stories is extremely counter-productive. Maybe if you ask someone what’s up, they may simply need an ear or an arm wrapped around them. We are all in this together, gang!”
Glazer often ends his messages with the words “Love you all,” a truly sweet emotion from a guy who looks like he snacks on toggle bolts. His relationship with many NFL athletes is just as personal. In a recent Instagram post, Glazer revealed that 2023 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Ronde Barber was the very first person that he opened up to about his mental struggles and pain.
Glazer has broken numerous stories over his career including the Patriots-Bengals sideline taping incident, Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey, Jim Harbaugh’s move from the Niners to the University of Michigan, and several scoops related to the Patriots’ Spygate and Deflategate sagas. He has also appeared in numerous TV shows including HBO’s Ballers and FX’s The League.
One of the areas in which Glazer has had the most impact is Mixed Martial Arts. To say that he was ahead of the curve on this now wildly popular sport would be an understatement. In 2007, Glazer created the first mixed martial arts training program for pro athletes in America.
He currently serves as a host for Bellator’s signature MMA fights on the Paramount Network and previously worked as a host for UFC. The New Jersey native definitely brings the fighting gene to all of his multi-pronged media work.
In short, Jay Glazer is as much of a warrior and competitor as any of the NFL players he covers – from training athletes at his gym, to inspiring people to face and overcome anxiety, to competing in mixed martial arts.
He is an outspoken, connected, articulate, and compassionate personality, one who believes in fighting the good fight, whether it is to get the story first, the opponent in front of you in the octagon, or the fears and challenges that we all face in our hearts and minds.
Managing your energy efficiently is a critical skill. You only have so much each day; how you use it will determine your success. When we lack direction and goals, we sometimes dive headfirst into mundane tasks like clearing email, looking at social media, or paperwork. Reps running at full throttle know the importance of conserving their energy for what matters – the stuff that drives results.
The Energy Bus is a book by motivational speaker Jon Gordon that covers ten rules to change your life with positive energy. I have applied some of these principles and my own. I highly recommend this book. Let’s examine why conserved, positive energy is crucial for sales and how you can prioritize your efforts effectively.
Busy Work
It’s a lot of things in radio. Reading internal emails, doing HR training, or making endless cold calls without a clear strategy. They only give the illusion of productivity, with minimal impact on revenue returns and client satisfaction. Do it during non-selling time, delegate it, or ensure you have a goal.
The Energy Drain
One of the most significant downsides of busy work is the energy drain. Constant multitasking of low-impact tasks can leave you exhausted, stressed, and unfulfilled. I once listened to the radio, had a muted TV, and did paperwork simultaneously. Draining. This energy suck took away from my ability to excel in more critical areas-like, making actual sales- and I didn’t even know it.
Do What’s Important
We need to know the difference between success-driving tasks and time fillers. Here are some ideas on how to conserve your energy and focus on what matters:
1. Identify High Leverage Activities
My friend, author, and Business Strategist Tony Geary calls these HLAs because they directly influence your sales performance. This may include handling challenging situations with critical clients, developing innovative sales strategies, writing proposals, or presenting new ideas. These HLAs should be your top priority.
2. Set Clear Goals
Establish clear, specific, and achievable goals for yourself. Having a target in mind helps you stay focused on what truly matters and minimizes distractions. Whether meeting a monthly revenue target or getting a specific number of new clients, your goals should guide your actions.
3. Time Blocking
Implement time-blocking techniques to allocate specific time slots for crucial tasks. When doing a daily 3-6p show AND selling, I tried to focus only on sales until 2 pm and show prep from 2-3p. I logged many hours on weekends and early mornings doing the ‘other’ stuff. Dedicating your energy and attention to HLAs without getting sidetracked by less important ones is critical. Reserve blocks of time for client meetings, research, etc., and book the appointment in your calendar. If you don’t have enough client meetings, say from 10 am-11:30 am and 1 pm-3 pm, prospect for meaningful appointments.
4. Delegate and Automate
You aren’t alone on the Energy Bus. Share your vision and ask for help. You can offer support in return one day. Delegate routine tasks to others or hire a personal assistant. Try automation tools in your CRM for tasks like email responses or data entry. This frees up your time and energy for strategic sales efforts.
5. Practice Self-Care
Maintaining your physical and mental well-being is vital for peak performance. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, positive reinforcement, and mindfulness practices can help you stay energized and focused on your goals. Try exercising, eating, meditating, or reading from 11:30-1 pm. Book a weekly lunch with an uplifting person who wants the best for you.
6. Read and React
Regularly assess your progress and adjust your strategies as needed. If a particular task doesn’t contribute significantly to your sales success, consider eliminating or delegating it to conserve energy for more valuable activities.
The Benefits of Energy Efficiency
Conserving your energy for essential tasks has numerous advantages:
Increased Productivity: Focusing on HLAs leads to better results and increased productivity. You accomplish more with less effort.
Improved Client Relationships: By prioritizing client interactions and relationship-building, you enhance client satisfaction and loyalty.
Enhanced Creativity: More mental and physical energy allows greater creativity in conquering challenges and developing innovative solutions.
Reduced Stress: Minimizing busy work and maximizing your efforts toward a measurable goal reduces stress and contributes to a healthier work-life balance.
Career Growth: Sales success can translate into career growth opportunities, higher earnings, and more assets for your family. What’s the downside?
Conserving your energy is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. You can achieve better results with less effort by prioritizing HLAs, setting clear goals, and practicing effective time management. Remember, it’s not about working harder; it’s about working smarter and conserving your energy for the tasks that truly drive success.
ESPN announced a partnership with Penn Entertainment last month that will see the launch of a network-branded sportsbook later this fall called ESPN Bet.
Now the network must figure out a way to incorporate ESPN Bet into programming. ESPN VP of sports betting and fantasy, Mike Morrison, was quoted by Variety as saying that it’s clear sports wagering can’t be ignored.
“It has become a big part of storytelling,” Morrison said.
ESPN has a betting-focused show called The Daily Wager, but it appears the focus now becomes making ESPN Bet and betting-related content a regular part of programming.
The network is not the first to launch an official sportsbook partnership. FOX Bet recently shutdown amidst a dispute with partner Flutter. NBC also dipped its toe in the water in 2020, gaining an equity share in PointsBet.
Earlier this year, the two entities reached a deal on a merger, bringing together WWE and UFC under one publicly traded company called TKO Group Holdings. The company has a $21 billion valuation.
ESPN celebrated the 44th anniversary of the launch of the network on Thursday, and Connecticut governor Ned Lamont helped cap off the festivities with an official proclamation designating September 7 as ESPN Day.
Lamont joined ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro and network employees at an event at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol to present Pitaro with the decree.
“We’re proud to have a worldwide leader in sports based in Connecticut and wish them many more years of success in our state,” Lamont said.
ESPN launched at 7 p.m. on September 7, 1979. Lee Leonard and George Grande anchored the debut episode of SportsCenter that night. The rest is history.
The network had an unofficial celebration on air Thursday. The 45th year of business was marked with the debut of Pat McAfee and the unveiling of a new SportsCenter studio.
After catching heat from linear TV, Nielsen is backing off its plan to include internal data from Amazon in its measurement of the Thursday Night Football audience.
Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news. He described Nielsen’s decision as a “win for broadcasters and ESPN” and a “loss for Amazon and NFL.”
Nielsen first announced its plan to supplement its measurement of live, streaming programs with data from the streamers last month. The plan has always been that those numbers would only be used for live events aired exclusively via streaming and not for all streaming programming.
Plenty of broadcast networks called out the plan as unfair. Traditional ratings measurement showed the Thursday Night Football audience as 18% smaller than Amazon’s internal measurement.
“A fair and accurate audience measurement across all platforms is absolutely vital to our industry,” the CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus said on a media conference call last month. “Anything that is not impartial and unbiased is unacceptable to us. I must say that we think it’s extremely odd and unfortunate that different rules are suddenly applying to one platform, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Initially, Nielsen pushed back on the criticism. A statement from the company said that some of the complaints about using data from Amazon were based on “misleading and inaccurate information.” The company’s position was that it was important to work with streamers to develop a more accurate way to measure the audience for streaming programs.
ESPN is getting its money’s worth from Pat McAfee. On the same day that the former NFL punter brought his show to the network, Stephen A. Smith announced that McAfee is going to be pulling double duty with ESPN’s morning lineup on Tuesdays.
McAfee will become part of the rotation of panelists on First Take this season. According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, he will appear on the show every Tuesday with Smith, Molly Qerim and Shannon Sharpe.
First Take announced the deal with Sharpe last month. The ESPN show has maintained its lead over FS1’s Undisputed even after that show was reworked following Sharpe’s exit over the summer.
Smith has not been shy about praising Pat McAfee, even before McAfee signed on with ESPN. Adding him to the First Take rotation makes a lot of sense.
CNN has hired former New York Times and BBC CEO Mark Thompson as its latest lead executive, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has high hopes for the new hire.
While appearing at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference Wednesday, Zaslav called Thompson a “superb executive” and added that his focus will be on securing the future of CNN.
“I can’t wait to see what Mark and that team are going to do because it is it is an extraordinary asset for us,” Zaslav said. “It’s the leading news organization in the world and I think Mark is just the right guy at the right time.”
Thompson joins the network at a tumultuous time. Former CEO Chris Licht departed the network earlier this summer after a disastrous profile in The Atlantic. CNN has seen advertising revenues and ratings drop dramatically since Licht’s hiring last year.
Thompson led the BBC from 2004 to 2012 before ultimately ascending to the CEO role at The New York Times. He departed the venerable outlet in 2020. Earlier this year, Thompson was Knighted by King Charles III for his services to British media.
