Sports radio ratings in New York have become highly popular in industry circles. Interest becomes even stronger though when a ratings book represents the final report card for one of the top voices in the market.
For Craig Carton, he’s riding out on top. Carton and his partner Evan Roberts closed out their run together with a 7.0 share, placing them 2nd overall during the Spring 2023 book. ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show earned a 3.1 to finish the quarter in 14th place.
In mornings is where WFAN received their strongest performance. Boomer & Gio were dominant, finishing 1st with an 11.1 share. DiPietro & Rothenberg were in 13th for ESPN New York, capturing a 3.2 share for the quarter.
The spring book was also the final one for Tiki Barber and Brandon Tierney as a show. Their midday program came in 4th with a 5.7 share. Middays at ESPN New York saw ESPN Radio’s Greeny and two-hours of Bart & Hahn finish 14th for the book with a 2.4 share.
A new lineup will debut on WFAN on July 24. Tiki Barber moves to afternoons alongside Evan Roberts, and Sal Licata joins Brandon Tierney in middays. That will certainly put extra attention on the remaining ratings books for 2023.
Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game came down to a thrilling finish – with Seattle Mariners superstar Julio Rodríguez at the plate in his home stadium, T-Mobile Park, with a chance to win the contest on one swing. Philadelphia Phillies closer Craig Kimbrel struggled to put Rodríguez away, ultimately walking him in an epic seven-pitch at-bat to put the winning runs on base. In the end, Kimbrel was able to strike out Cleveland Guardians infielder Jose Ramírez to seal the National League’s first All-Star Game victory in a decade. Dan Patrick was not entirely that interested.
“You had a little bit in the ninth inning,” Patrick said. “Here’s what happens sometimes – we look at the ninth inning and we go, ‘Man, that was an exciting All-Star Game.’ No it wasn’t.”
Todd Fritz, executive producer of The Dan Patrick Show, told Patrick before the start of the program that he was excited by watching the FOX Sports studio panel eat popcorn and cotton candy. Overall, the game was not that interesting for him, leading him to question what Ortiz was eating in the middle of the action.
“What am I going to watch – the [sacrifice] fly that made it 2-1 American League in the fifth inning or whatever it was?,” Fritz asked. “That didn’t do anything for me.”
Patrick surmised that Ortiz was requested by Derek Jeter to sit between him and Álex Rodríguez, citing tension over the years while they were teammates on the New York Yankees. During the postgame show, Ortiz donned a beekeeping mask and sprayed “Yankee repellent,” playing on the fact that he was a member of the team’s most staunch rival, the Boston Red Sox.
“If they were chugging beers, I would have been interested [in] that,” Patrick said.
While he was flipping around the channels, Patrick was struggling to find another program to watch. Because of the level of boredom the All-Star Game caused him to feel, he began watching the U.S. Senate hearings regarding the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf merger.
“It’s just not special,” Patrick said of the Midsummer Classic. “There’s certain things – you’re trying to put earrings on a pig or lipstick on a pig…. The All-Star Game lost its luster a long, long time ago.”
Patrick’s theory is, in part, supported by last year’s iteration of the contest reaching a record nadir in its viewership numbers. Last year’s numbers were indicative of a 10% decline in viewership (7.5 million viewers) and a 7% attenuation in ratings (4.2 share). Ratings for the 2023 All-Star Game continued the decline with an average of just under 7.1 million total viewers. Moreover, the T-Mobile Home Run Derby on ESPN garnered its lowest viewership marks since 2018.
1210 WPHT afternoon host Rich Zeoli has revealed that he is currently missing from his show after undergoing colorectal surgery.
Zeoli told Mike Opelka, who is filling in on The Rich Zeoli Show, that he had 18 inches of his colon removed after struggling with the adverse effects of diverticulitis.
“I just got out of the hospital a few hours ago. I had colorectal surgery to fix my diverticulitis. I was in Cooper hospital for five days,” Zeoli said last week.
“I went in on Thursday. And my surgery was at 7:30 in the morning on Thursday, and I just got out a couple hours ago. So that’s what we need to know, and I’m alright. I’m doing okay. They took great care of me and I’m alive but I have to spend the next week, possibly longer, recovering.”
When asked how he was feeling after the surgery, Zeoli said he was doing well.
“I feel good,” Zeoli said. “I mean, I’m in for that moment where I’m on pain meds. I’m out of the hospital. So I’m happy to be home. I’m happy with the kids who have a family and I’m sure the pain will hit me probably when this phone call ends. Or maybe the pain will hit the audience in the middle of this phone call. You never know.”
Zeoli joked that he was to refrain from eating vegetables for week following his surgery, which he jokingly called the Chris Christie diet. Obviously in good spirits, Zeoli also joked that he would auction off the 18 inches removed from his colon for charity.
In a serious note, Zeoli told listeners to take diverticulitis and diverticulosis seriously, adding that it can lead to death if left untreated.
For the first time under the 25-year tenure of New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, the organization has fired a member of its coaching staff in the middle of the season. The team relieved hitting coach Dillon Lawson of his duties amid a scuffling offense. The “Bronx Bombers” have hit a major league-worst .218 since Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe, and rank near the bottom of the league in on-base percentage. While the firing of Lawson came as a surprise to many, the team acted swiftly to name MLB Network analyst Sean Casey as his replacement.
Casey had been with MLB Network since the league-owned entity launched in 2009 and was also teammates with manager Aaron Boone while in the major leagues. Taking on the position for the remainder of the 2023 season, he is excited to get to work and help refine the Yankees’ hitting approach to engender more success. The transition, he believes, would have been considerably more difficult had he not worked in sports media.
While contributing to a variety of its programming – most notably the Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight – Casey presented on-air demonstrations of key, fundamental baseball skills. A .302 hitter over his 12-year Major League Baseball career, Casey came to the network with skill and expertise pertaining to the sport and proffered advice and support as an analyst. He has essentially served in somewhat of a hitting coach role for viewers of MLB Network and is now ready to take his talents back to a big-league stage.
“MLB Network has made me so ready for this job,” Casey said. “I’ve basically been a coach for a long time.”
Similarly to Casey, Yankees manager Aaron Boone worked as a broadcaster from the time he retired as a player. In fact, he became a color commentator on Sunday Night Baseball with Dan Shulman and Jessica Mendoza for two seasons and was also a part of the radio commentary team for the World Series. Boone continues to remain in the space, as he has partnered with Jomboy Media to appear on the Talkin’ Yanks podcast for a weekly guest spot this season.
The Yankees hope Casey’s ebullient personality and baseball wherewithal will help the team improve its position in the standings after the conclusion of the All-Star Break. His future beyond this season remains unknown, making a potential return to MLB Network possible – but for now, his focus will be on preparing the Yankees on their chase to a 28th World Series championship.
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel made headlines this week after he abruptly ended an interview on CBS Sports Radio with Zach Gelb. The interview, which was scheduled for 15 minutes and only at the five-minute mark, transitioned into asking Samuel about comments he made regarding last year’s NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles. When Samuel answered questions with a sense of apathy and lethargy, he hung up the phone and another voice, presumably a public relations staffer, was heard on the line saying he was going to camp. Ken Carman and Anthony Lima simply would not have stood for it and felt badly for Gelb.
The duo acknowledged the incident on their morning show Wednesday on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Ohio. They made sure to mention they are on good terms with Gelb and do not have any acrimony towards him. Contrarily, fans of the 49ers and Eagles are not pleased with his line of questioning. Upon listening to the audio for the first time, Lima strongly disagreed.
“It’s fine to ask about that,” Lima said. “It’s fun, maybe a budding rivalry here because both teams are expected to be good again.”
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Burdy suffered an injury early in the contest and his team’s defense was unable to stop the explosive offense of the Eagles, suffering a 31-7 defeat. The Eagles went on to lose Super Bowl LVII to the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks later from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“I didn’t understand the 49ers fans going after him for asking the question,” Carman said. “….You can hear it in Zach’s voice [that he’s] trying to have fun, but I’m sure Deebo Samuel doesn’t know Zach and maybe he thinks he’s trying to do a ‘Gotcha’?”
If the incident had happened on their show, Carman and Lima agreed that they would spend the remaining time the interview was supposed to last to staunchly criticize his actions. Gelb did not do that, but was understandably perturbed at what transpired. Had Lima been in his position though, he would have tried to keep the other person on the line for an extended period of time.
“Just to annoy everybody, [I would have said], ‘Hey, how can you get tickets to camp? Oh, it’s actually closed to the public – well is there a way we can come and get autographs after camp?,’” Lima contrived. “I would keep her on [for] as long as possible and make it excruciating for everybody involved.”
Twitter is undergoing a challenge from upstart social media platform Threads. The text-based app from Instagram is billed as Twitter challenger, and Newsmax host Eric Bolling thinks the purported mass exodus means nothing for the Elon Musk-owned platform.
“What Twitter did violates the First Amendment and Twitter never declared numerous contributions made to the Biden campaign,” the Eric Bolling The Balance host said Tuesday night. So when Elon Musk bought Twitter, it was, and still is, the left-wing media’s worst nightmare,” argued Bolling. “But the corporate media is scared of the impact of what a free Twitter can do. People can access any information they want. That’s scary for the left and their counterparts in the media, so they get all hysterical and call it a Nazi platform filled with white rage. Can’t make this stuff up.”
He then played a clip of MSNBC host Joy Reid saying that she no longer uses Twitter because she “doesn’t want to give Elon any content”, and has found everything she used to get from Twitter on Threads.
“How will they ever survive without you, Joy Reid?,” Bolling asked, sarcastically. “Calling Twitter a Nazi platform is the left’s way of writing off anything they disagree with. Also, let’s be honest, the reason Joy Reid loves Facebook now is because Mark Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020.
“The far left and corporate media is truly afraid of what will happen in 2024 with a free Twitter. In a country with a free press, you think journalists would welcome all of this, but that seems to be happening.”
Bolling concluded by questioning why Musk’s stated intention for the app — a free-speech platform completely deregulated — is a viewed as a bad thing.
As Threads continues to grow rapidly — featuring more than 100 million users after five days of existence — many are questioning the future of Twitter. Place MSNBC host Joy Reid firmly in that camp.
During The Reid Out, Reid gave a personal example as reasoning for why she questions the future of the platform owned by Elon Musk.
“I’m just gonna give you myself as an example. I’m somebody who — I stopped using Twitter quite a long time ago. I don’t tweet and I don’t want to give Elon any content,” Reid stated. “But every so often, I would check it, just as an aggregator, just to see if there’s any news in there in between the Nazi tweets.
“I stopped doing that, because it’s like, I don’t want to have to read through Nazi crap just to see what’s in the news. Threads? Since that has launched there’s, to me, no reason to check Twitter anymore. All of the major — Nato blog is on there, The Washington Post is on there. All the stuff I would normally read. I can aggregate it on Threads. Twitter now is useless to me. If people like me are leaving, I don’t know how Twitter survives.”
Some reports have claimed that Twitter has experienced an extreme drop in traffic since the launch of Threads. However, Twitter CEO Linda Yaccrino claimed the site featured its busiest day since February last week.
Former United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) defensive midfielder Leslie Osborne, United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) defender Jimmy Conrad and Colombia National Team midfielder Melissa Ortiz will anchor the World Cup Now show on Twitter. The interactive pregame and postgame program will be available for people to watch on the network’s social media platforms in addition to in-match previews.
“We pride ourselves on bringing best-in-class coverage to the biggest live events in the world,” Michael Bucklin, FOX Sports Senior Vice President, Digital, said in a statement. “Like for a Super Bowl, World Series or Men’s World Cup, we’re bringing our A-game to our digital offerings for 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
Studio analysts at the World Cup, including Carli Lloyd, Heather O’Reilly and Karina LeBlanc, will engage in candid discussion and intuitive forecasting on World Cup Now and other programming. Pregame iterations of the show will highlight the event venue, players and teams. After the game, the program will be predicated on highlights, reaction and analysis – and clips throughout the day will be shared on social media.
At the end of all 31 days of the quadrennial tournament, World Cup Daily articles will be penned and shared online to recap the day and preview what is to come.
Osborne previously worked with FOX Sports on its coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and France, rendering this year’s proceedings her third consecutive appearance. Over her playing career, she appeared for the U.S. Women’s National Team 62 times and placed third in the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007.
Upon her retirement, she began working with various former USWNT teammates Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton and the aforementioned Wagner as an owner and co-founder of Bay FC. The San Francisco, Calif.-based National Women’s Soccer League expansion franchise, created in partnership with investment firm Sixth Street, will begin play in 2024.
After a storied national career with 28 international caps as a member of the USMNT and an MLS Cup championship, Conrad returns to FOX Sports as a digital host and analyst for this year’s competition.
Conrad made his FOX Sports debut at the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar while serving as the technical director for the San Francisco Glens Soccer Club in USL League Two (USL2).
Ortiz makes her second appearance with FOX Sports as a digital analyst and host, bringing skill and expertise cultivated throughout her international career. While on the field, she was a critical part of Colombia qualifying for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada and played professionally across various different leagues.
Since retiring, Ortiz has become an active TikTok user and co-founded an artisan-roasted coffee company called Kickoff Coffee Co.
“Leslie, Jimmy and Melissa are exciting personalities with vast experience playing for their country on the world’s greatest stage,” Bucklin added. “They’ll be joined daily by top experts and analysts from our television desk to engage fans before and after every single match of the tournament live from our beautiful digital set in Australia.”
Aside from World Cup Now, FOX Sports will provide unparalleled coverage of the global competition before, during and after matchups. FOX Sports insiders Laken Litman and Doug McIntyre will deliver reports and tell the stories throughout the proceedings, on hand for all USWNT matches.
Jenny Taft, the network’s lead college football reporter and former FOX Sports 1 studio host, will also work as an insider for the USWNT. The team is looking to capture its third-straight FIFA Women’s World Cup championship.
FOX Sports is utilizing five game commentary teams to cover the international competition, led by JP Dellacamera and Aly Wagner. Other commentators making the trip include Kate Scott, John Strong, Warren Barton and Jacqui Oatley. Rob Stone will serve as the network’s studio host across World Cup coverage.
Alexi Lalas and David Mosse will also record a daily episode of his podcast, Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union, while he is in Sydney, Australia.
Lalas has been the lead studio analyst for the network’s soccer coverage since 2015 and experienced immense success as a member of the USMNT. In 2006, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame for his excellence on defense and recently called the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Fans interested in engaging with the show can call the podcast hotline – (657) 549-2297 – for a chance to make their voices heard. All episodes are available wherever you get your podcasts, and clips are frequently shared on social media.
FOX Sports will stream World Cup matches in 4K resolution through connected TV platforms and Roku devices. Viewers away from a television can utilize their phones or tablets to watch the matches live using the FOX Sports App. Streaming devices will have the functionality to catch up with a select matchup by viewing highlights in real time.
The FOX Sports app and website will also feature the FIFA World Cup Hub, which will update matchup scores, statistics and standings. Additionally, it will contain full replays of all 64 matches, the ability for users to access bonus feeds and exclusive original content.
The spring numbers are out in Atlanta, and 92.9 The Game had plenty of reason to celebrate this quarter. The Atlanta sports station posted strong numbers across all dayparts including in morning drive where it recently made changes.
The Morning Shift featuring Tiffany Blackmon, Mike Johnson and Beau Morgan scored an 8.4 share for the quarter. The new trio joined the lineup in March after former host and ex-NFL player Hugh Douglas left for WIP in Philadelphia. In their very first book, Blackmon, Johnson, and Morgan ranked second overall, and had the top performance of any show on the station during the spring ratings period.
Turning to middays, The Game had two shows finish in 3rd place. The Steakhouse with Steak Shapiro and Sandra Golden registered a 6.9 rating from 9a-11a while Andy & Randy with Andy Bunker and Randy McMichael generated a 7.2 from 11a-2p.
Moving to afternoon drive, the popular team of Dukes & Bell claimed 2nd in their timeslot. The five-hour afternoon show enjoyed a 6.9 share during the spring.
Forget the old rumors about Atlanta not being a good sports town. 92.9 The Game proved there are plenty of people interested in conversations about the local teams. The station delivered a 6.9 rating in weekday prime (M-F 6a-7p) to finish 3rd overall in the target demo.
Data for the market’s other sports radio brand, 680 The Fan, was not available this quarter.
With all of the opinions and hot takes that are out there in sports media, any platform is going to find it tough to please everyone with their thoughts on a particular subject. From co-founding The Big Lead to his journey to now being a co-host with Colin Cowherd on The Herd, Jason McIntyre knows that while he can’t please everyone, he needs to make sure people have an opinion of him one way or the other.
McIntyre was a guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast on Wednesday, and he mentioned that when he was running The Big Lead, the goal for him was to write about the stories that people were going to care the most about.
“When you try to please everybody, you please nobody….You wake up, your alarm to wake up is probably on your phone and instantly you have a rundown of what happened that matters. I know there are NHL purists who believe that the NHL Draft was crazy – I’m sure it was. But, the number of people who care about that does not matter to me running a website. People want to know what’s going on in the NBA, NFL, college football, and then they want the other stuff (Britney Spears vs. Victor Wembanyama). They love those wacky stores that anyone can relate to.
“When I got a radio show at FOX Sports Radio, you told me play the hits. You can lead with Aaron Rodgers one day, Cowboys the next day. Play the big stories – people care about that deeply. As much as I want to bag on the Houston Texans, I can’t open a show with that on my podcast; I wasn’t blogging much about the inferior teams in the NFL. You’ve got to give the people what they want.”
Even though McIntyre and Cowherd might end up disagreeing on a topic on the show, McIntyre mentioned that there is not one take that Cowherd can have that is going to make him very angry.
“I don’t think you have the ability to piss me off with any take you have because I’m kind of level-headed,” McIntyre said. “Colin might be wrong; he might be right, but we are all in this business – we are going to whiff.
“There’s a lot of people who don’t take chances Colin because they are afraid. They want to be very milquetoast, right down the middle. They don’t want to take any chances and go after people. I’m not afraid to go after people…I can’t get outraged by others. I don’t want to be the guy that pushes you to outrage, but in 2023, you want people loving you or hating you, you don’t want them indifferent.”
