Home Blog Page 2014

Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Didn’t Want Industry to Wonder What Shannon Sharpe Did Wrong’

BSM Staff
-
0

Starting next week, Shannon Sharpe will appear on First Take with Stephen A. Smith every Monday and Tuesday during the football season. 

Smith was a guest on the Club Shay Shay podcast hosted by Sharpe. He mentioned that one of the reasons he wanted to do something with Sharpe was that he wanted the rest of the sports world to know that Sharpe was wanted.

“I didn’t want you to be in the situation where the sports world looked at you and said ‘what did he do? He must have done something.’ I said if he ends up here, he ends up here. The honchos know I want him. More importantly than that, this is a brother that I think has done a lot of good work on television that has helped our community. As a result, it’s incumbent upon me because of the perch I sit on to let them know he’s wanted.”

Sharpe mentioned that he met Smith back in 2014 and that recently, they have become closer than ever.

“Over the last year and a half, I was going through some things and he was the one guy that was in this business I felt I could talk to. It would stay between us, but he would give me sound advice.”

Smith said that he knew that Skip Bayless was auditioning Sharpe for what would eventually become UNDISPUTED on FS1, while Bayless was still part of First Take. Smith got out of the way and let it happen.

“I knew back then Skip was auditioning you because whenever I took off, you would be there. What Jamie Horowitz wouldn’t tell anyone was there were extra days I would take off just so Skip can bring you on. If you are not creating opportunities for other people, what good are you?”

As for when Smith debates Sharpe, he believes that when it comes time to talk about football, he will never question Sharpe’s football acumen, but instead take a look at the information from a reporter’s lens.

“It’s like I’m going to argue with you about your points. We are going to agree, we are going to disagree. But, at the end of the day, we are brothers and we are going to sit up there and do what we can to make our product shine.”

As for what people should expect when Smith and Sharpe debate, Smith knows that First Take has become a close-knit community with the rotating cast. Since he became the executive producer, he wants people to shine and he knows what the audience of First Take wants to hear. 

Smith said it was clear his plan was working when Michael Irvin become part of the show last year.

“One of my proudest moments was when Michael Irvin came last year. The reason I was proud was I know what his name brings and the stature that it holds. You are thinking he comes and the others feel alienated. But, if you watch him when he was on the show with us, it was a brotherhood. Orlovsky, Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears, they wanted to be on-air with him. That’s how it’s  supposed to be. The NFL constantly talks about how a brotherhood exists. First Take is a platform for a brotherhood.”

Skip Bayless: ‘Out of My Comfort Zone, Extremely Happy’ With New Undisputed

BSM Staff
-
0

As Skip Bayless and FOX Sports 1 completed the first week of the revamped edition of Undisputed, they have been privy to varied feedback from viewers reacting to the show. Some people feel that the lack of a moderator such as Molly Qerim on ESPN’s First Take communicates a sentiment of disorder, while others believe that letting Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Irvin debate unhinged makes for great television.

As recently expressed on the Meadowlark Media podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, there is a debate to be had over whether or not Bayless’ show is watchable or fits in today’s environment of diversified viewing interests. The confluence of debate television with traditional and modern sports coverage has posited questions about what will be sustainable for the long run, along with what it is that consumers want to see.

Bayless promulgated on The Skip Bayless Show that he has been carrying a heavy load throughout the first week in serving as both a commentator and the moderator of Undisputed. During Monday’s episode, he had what is being considered by some viewers as a Freudian slip when he told Johnson that he was talking too much.

Leading up to the program, Bayless disclosed that he had been feeling bouts of anxiety and uncertainty regarding whether or not it was worth it, but he was able to collect himself in the afternoon before its premiere by reaffirming his self-efficacy. After all, Bayless had landed his top three targets for the show following a comprehensive meeting with network executives reviewing potential candidates to fill the vacancy left by Shannon Sharpe, who departed the show in June.

“I have never prepared harder than I did for the four or five days leading up to Monday because I never have that kind of time; the luxury of time to prep,” Bayless said. “We prepped hard; I prepped harder. I scripted out a rocket launch of an opening for that Monday show because I needed to [since] I was going to introduce all three of my new teammates.”

Once the opening was written, it was loaded into the teleprompter, a piece of studio equipment that Bayless usually refrains from utilizing. Because of the complexity and sheer length of the introduction, he capitulated to having the script written so he could read it, deviating from his usual practice of simply working with notes.

“I was coming out of my chair,” Bayless said. “I’ve been off television too long. I got rocket [launched] by Diet Mountain Dew, the breakfast of champions; the nectar of the gods; rocket fuel. So I’m reading the prompter – I do the three big introductions – and then all of a sudden, it just explodes with energy, lightning strikes [and] chaos, all of it sensational because we had all waited so long.”

Bayless is grateful to be back on television following a two-month absence and is looking forward to debating everything from the Dallas Cowboys to the legacy of Los Angeles Lakers superstar forward LeBron James. He does it with a new team featuring the aforementioned Sherman, Johnson and Irvin, along with Rachel Nichols, Lil’ Wayne, Josina Anderson and other FOX Sports contributors.

“I’m a control freak – I just wasn’t sure what to expect; it’s all new,” Bayless said. “Even now, we’re still experimenting; it’s all new. I jump out of bed in the morning thinking, ‘I wonder what’s going to happen today.’ I don’t know – I’m out of my comfort zone and I am extremely happy right now. I love this feeling; I love the over-emotion of the moment.”

Andrew Marchand: TV Networks Never Believed Pac-12 Would Survive

BSM Staff
-
0

Why could the Pac-12 never secure a new television deal? According to Andrew Marchand, the television industry never bought into the idea that the conference could rebuild without USC and UCLA.

“The likeliest outcome I heard from my TV sources throughout this process was that the feeling the PAC 12 was not going to make it,” the New York Post reporter wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Friday morning.“Sad ending.”

USC and UCLA informed the conference last summer that they were leaving to join the Big Ten. That began a scramble to find a new TV deal. Burke Magnus, ESPN’s President of Content, said that he was hoping they could get a deal done, but told BSM’s Derek Futterman “We never really got close, and I think that was more of a factor of their expectations than not matching up with our analysis, and frankly others’ analysis.”

The next domino to drop was Colorado moving to the Big 12. Shortly after that, Oregon and Washington announced they were joining the Southern California schools in the Big Ten and Utah and the Arizona schools announced they were also headed to the Big 12.

Friday’s news that California and Stanford are headed to the ACC essentially puts the nail in the conference’s coffin with only Oregon State and Washington State remaining. 

Throughout the process, the Pac-12 was rumored to have taken meetings with Ion, Amazon, and the CW among others.

A deal that would have made Apple the primary distributor of the conference’s games was on the table earlier this month. Kirk Schulz, President of Washington State University insinuated that FOX enticed some of those schools with the promise of a new, more stable home if they rejected the Apple offer.

“I do think if I was FOX and ESPN, I’m not sure I want Apple in the marketplace, frankly. I don’t want somebody with pockets that are that deep as a rival if I can afford it,” he said last week.

Charter: ‘We’re Moving On’ If Disney Does Not Accept Fair Offer

BSM Staff
-
0
Charter: ‘We’re Moving On’ If Disney Does Not Accept Fair Offer

Following Thursday night’s incident where channels owned by The Walt Disney Company were abruptly taken off the air for Spectrum customers, Charter Communications held an investor webcast explaining its position in the negotiations. The incident occurred moments before kickoff of ESPN’s college football Thursday night opening game between Florida and Utah, disheartening sports fans and leaving them with more questions than answers. Charter Communications knows that ESPN and the Disney portfolio of networks is important to its business, with estimates stating that about one-fifth of all cable subscribers to the channel receive their service through Spectrum.

During the meeting, Charter affirmed that “the current video ecosystem is broken” and believes it can be part of the solution. Price hikes that would impact all customers, however, are purportedly being offered by Disney that would make the service less affordable for consumers. Charter conveyed that it is an atypical carriage dispute and something that could have significant repercussions on the future of the video ecosystem. The company pays $2.2 billion in annual programming costs to Disney with 25% of their 14.7 million subscribers engaging with its content.

Charter has offered The Walt Disney Company the opportunity to enter into a partnership that it says will help grow the video business. For its customers, Charter shared that they would be able to select different packages with content tailored specifically to factions of offerings that “meet their viewing and budgetary needs.”

Charter believes it can retain parsimonious customers on linear platforms while having the property to incentivize broadband-only customers to purchase its direct-to-consumer (DTC) service. As Disney strives to grow its footprint in the DTC marketplace, Charter has asserted that it can provide a starting point and the ability to augment advertising revenue. In exchange for these market rates, the cable provider also is urging Disney to provide their ad-supported applications, such as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, within the linear products so customers only pay once for the programming. Charter says that Disney would be able to drive consumers to upgrade and “churn” in the business by establishing “a more sustainable revenue stream.”

In accordance with the proposal, Charter disclosed that it offered The Walt Disney Company a short-term contract extension with penetration mediums; however, the proposal was ultimately shot down by Disney. Charter also publicized that Disney is not willing to accept a short-term contract extension, portraying the company’s offer as “ignoring the realities of today’s video business and [accelerating] its decline.”

The long-term deal from Disney includes higher licensing fees, less packaging flexibility and paying for Spectrum customers that do not receive its channels. Over the last five years alone, the cable industry has lost almost 25% of its total customers, forcing change across the board. In its most recent earnings report, Disney shared that its year-over-year revenue from its linear networks is down 7%, while its operating income also decreased 23%. As it pertains to cable, Disney attributes the decreased income to more costs associated with sports programming and production. At the same time, ESPN+ maintained its approximate level of paid subscribers for the quarter with 25.2 million with a 3% decline in average monthly revenue per paid subscriber.

“We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time and have not yet agreed to a new market-based agreement,” The Walt Disney Company said in a statement. “As a result, their Spectrum TV subscribers no longer have access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sporting events and news coverage plus kids, family and general entertainment programming.”

We think the opportunity for customers and all of us as market participants is too big, too important, and too timely to pass up,” Charter Communications President Chris Winfrey countered. “The Walt Disney Company and Charter have the opportunity to work together on transforming the industry for the long-term benefit of both companies and their customers. Without them, we need to pivot to other models to drive value for our connectivity relationships. We are either moving forward together with a collaborative business model, or we’re moving on.”

Kristen Welker to Receive Fourth Estate Award from National Press Club

BNM Staff
-
0
Kristen Welker to Receive Fourth Estate Award from National Press Club

NBC News’s Kristen Welker is set to receive the prestigious Fourth Estate Award from the National Press Club at its annual gala later this year.

The award is given annually to recognize “journalists who have made significant contributions to the field and is the Club’s top prize”.

Welker, who is slated to begin her duties hosting Meet the Press on Sunday, September 17th, will be the show’s second-ever female moderator and its first Black host.

“Kristen’s coverage of the White House and Washington through multiple administrations consistently demonstrates her skill, integrity, and dedication to high journalism standards. Her reporting commands our attention, just as her moderation skills command a debate stage,” National Press Club president Eileen O’Reilly said.

“Kristen Welker embodies the values we celebrate with this award and is a fantastic role model for journalists worldwide. We are thrilled to honor her and celebrate her role as incoming moderator of Meet the Press.”

Other prominent journalists who have been bestowed the award include CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Christiane Amanpour, former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite, current NBC News anchors Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell, and former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, among numerous others.

The National Press Club Gala is scheduled for Tuesday, November 28th in Washington D.C.

Joe Dubin Returning to 102.5/106.3 The Game

BSM Staff
-
0

Nashville is gaining a familiar voice back on the air with news of Emmy-award winning sports personality Joe Dubin returning to The Game (102.5/106.3 FM) as the co-host of a new morning show beginning next Tuesday, Sept. 5. Dubin will join the station’s director of operations and sports programming, Chase McCabe, as the co-host of The Chase & Big Joe Show, discussing local sports and beyond on a daily basis.

“I am just so grateful for the opportunity to come back and work with some fantastic and talented people at 102.5 The Game and Cromwell Media,” Dubin said. “[With] the opportunity to do a show with Chase and many other things we have planned, I cannot wait to get started.”

A native of Nashville, Tenn., Dubin was an original host on The Game when it successfully stunted to the sports talk format in 2011. He is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has also worked in television on both WKRN-TV and WSMV-TV. In addition to his new hosting role, Dubin will be the color commentator for his alma mater’s football games, airing on 93.3 Classic Hits. Moreover, he will also participate on broadcasts of high school football on FOX 17’s program, Football Frenzy Live.

The remainder of the station’s lineup will be staying the same, starting with Robby Stanley and Joe Rexrode in the morning from 6 to 9 a.m. CST. After Dubin and McCabe host their slot from 9 to 11 a.m., former Tennessee Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason joins Caroline Fenton and Willy Dauncic in middays until 2 p.m. McCabe previously hosted his own morning show, The Chase McCabe Show, but will now once again share the studio with someone for whom he used to intern and produce.

“I am thrilled to be able to finally co-host with him,” McCabe said in a statement, acknowledging the surreal moment. “Joe is one of my mentors who always taught me to laugh, and we will be doing a lot of that each weekday. I’m so glad to have him back on the team.

“I am so excited that Joe is re-joining our broadcast team,” added Cromwille Media Nashville General Manager Shawn Fort. “I can’t wait to see ‘Big Joe on the Go’ again doing great things for Cromwell Media, our clients and our community. Welcome back home, Joe!”

Aaron Jacobson: ‘I’m Quitting TV Forever’ After Spectrum-ESPN Dispute

BSM Staff
-
0

On Thursday night, Spectrum customers lost access to ESPN and the rest of companies owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company, accentuating turmoil in negotiations for cable distribution agreements. The timing of the ordeal happened moments before kickoff of a highly-anticipated college football matchup between Florida and Utah, with the platform instead displaying a message to its customers. Part of the announcement conveyed that Disney was looking for an excessive increase in its cable fees that would affect all customers, Spectrum shared on a webcast Friday morning. The calamity could be permanent, but nonetheless has already agitated sports fans and compelled some of them to outright switch service providers.

Tampa radio host Aaron Jacobson is among that group, unable to watch the game on Thursday because of the stalemate in negotiations. No resolution has been reached in the dispute, leaving Spectrum customers in the dark pertaining to all Disney programming. Last July, ESPN was in 71.325 million homes, falling short of the cable distribution of FOX Sports 1 for the first time in its history.

While ESPN has a direct-to-consumer product in the works, it is unknown when it will launch, but the ordeal accentuates the changing media ecosystem. Jacobson shared on 95.3 WDAE that he pays $60 a month for Spectrum and came off as incredulous towards the entire situation, clearly frustrated and fed up.

“I’m getting rid of all of it,” Jacobson submitted. “I’m quitting TV forever. I’ll figure it out.”

Co-host Pat Donovan shared that he switched from DIRECTV to YouTube TV, affirming that he only had the cable service because of NFL Sunday Ticket. Despite his reluctance, he decided to cut the cord at the behest of his wife and found that he also needed to purchase Bally Sports Plus to watch the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning on the local regional sports network, Bally Sports Sun.

“It’s not ideal – don’t get me wrong,” Donovan said. “I can’t ‘last channel’ from Bally watching the Rays to say a college football game. If the Rays had been on last night, it would have been difficult to go back and forth between Florida-Utah and the Rays because it’s on two different apps.”

Donovan and show producer Seth Kushner urged Jacobson to capitulate and purchase YouTube TV, with Donovan sharing that it has not frozen on him once since his purchase. Kushner also pointed out the irony in the situation in that they always used to discuss cable transitioning to become more à la carte, granting consumers the ability to choose which services they want. Even so, they both understand that the occurrence has a sense of wrongdoing placed on both sides.

“ESPN is something we should always have,” Donovan said. “You should never have to question whether or not you’re going to have ESPN on.”

“They’re using that against you,” added Kushner. “They’re using that to try to put pressure on whatever deal they’re trying to work out with ESPN, ABC or whatever it is.”

In a state of flux where streaming has rendered itself the predominant television viewing functionality, Jacobson has grown frustrated. The incident with The Walt Disney Company going off the air during prime time hours only emphasizes the fact that declining subscriptions and increasing fees are threatening the viability of the traditional cable industry as we know it.

ESPN reportedly charges the most money to cable providers to carry its channel, coming in at $9.42. As the company emerges from company-mandated layoffs and looks to retain media rights for the National Basketball Association, there is a chance that price hikes could continue.

“I’m going to cry,” Jacobson said. “I just want things to be the way they used to.”

NewsNation Tabs Blake Burman as Moderator of The Hill

BNM Staff
-
0

NewsNation is making a change on its daily political panel program The Hill. Blake Burman will step into the role previously held by Leland Vittert as the show’s moderator.

Burman has served as NewsNation’s chief Washington correspondent since joining the network in January after spending six years in the nation’s capital working for Fox Business Network. Vittert will continue hosting On Balance with Leland Vittert at 7:00 PM ET.

“I’m thrilled to moderate The Hill, especially as we enter another consequential election cycle,” said Burman. “Our audience knows they can hear from the biggest players in politics, on both sides of the aisle, and we look forward to bringing those thoughtful conversations to our viewers.”

“Blake is an excellent discussion leader with a great understanding of how the decisions in Washington impact everyday Americans across this country,” added NewsNation Managing Editor and Senior Vice President of News and Politics Cherie Grzech. “We are thrilled to welcome him as the official moderator of a program that combines the vast resources of the network and the nation’s top political website The Hill.”

Burman will begin hosting The Hill, which airs weekdays at 5:00 PM ET, on Tuesday, September 5th.

Orlando’s AM 950 The Answer Off-Air After Hurricane Idalia

BNM Staff
-
0
Orlando’s AM 950 The Answer Off-Air After Hurricane Idalia

Hurricane Idalia made landfall earlier this week as a powerful Category 3 storm. Some stations have been affected by the storm’s wrath, including Salem Media Group’s AM 950 The Answer.

According to a report from the FCC, only three radio stations were affected by the storm. In addition to AM 950 The Answer, a pair of stations in Tallahassee have also gone dark due to tower damage from the hurricane.

The Salem Media Group station, WORL 950 AM, is a Class B station with 12,000 watts of power. The station is also simulcast on 94.9 FM which covers the northern Orlando suburbs.

No television stations reported strong enough damage that affected their on-air status.

The FCC also reported in its Disaster Information Reporting System filings that only 2.2% of cell phone towers in Florida were damaged this week. Less than 1% of towers in South Carolina were damaged as the hurricane made its way north and east.

Dave Portnoy: ‘I’m Rich and I Can Fix Barstool Sports’

BSM Staff
-
0

PENN Entertainment recently sold Barstool Sports back to its founder and president, Dave Portnoy, in order to facilitate a new deal with ESPN to create the ESPN BET sportsbook. Portnoy and his brand had been under the auspices of PENN since the company acquired the remaining 64% majority share of Barstool Sports in a transaction worth $388 million in March 2023. From that time, the company felt limited in what it could disseminate and seems to have been putting its parent company at risk of potentially losing regulatory licenses.

The incident regarding Ben Mintz, a Barstool personality who uttered a racial slur during a podcast segment, underscores the differences in Barstool Sports when under control of PENN Entertainment. In a recent interview with former FOX News anchor Tucker Carlson posted to X, formerly Twitter, Portnoy divulged that the company was afraid that regulators would use the miscue against it, affecting its business interests.

“PENN was afraid – and this goes back to me a lot – that people who hate us so much [and] The New York Times was going to write a piece about it and they were going to make this a big issue; that’s what they were afraid of,” Portnoy said. “Whether that’s true or not, who knows?”

Upon reacquiring the company in a transaction worth $1 and incumbent on Portnoy agreeing to various stratified conditions, Portnoy immediately re-hired Mintz. In watching the video and conversing with Mintz, he was led to believe that it was an unintentional error and something that he instantly regretted. During the interview, Portnoy characterized it as a microcosm to look at a larger picture of the modern media ecosystem.

“I consider myself a rational, logical person,” Portnoy said. “You can tell when somebody is hateful and you can tell when somebody makes an honest mistake. There’s too much in this country – we’re outcrying and outraging over innocent, non-hateful stuff, and that’s what Ben got caught up in.”

Portnoy revealed that the company lost nearly $10 million last year, necessitating layoffs to ensure Barstool Sports became profitable again. Chief executive officer Erika Ayers Badan sent a memo to staff yesterday conveying their disappointment to have to lay people off – reportedly 25% of its 430-person staff – and implored other employers to hire the people, calling them “all-stars.” Yet Portnoy suspects that they may not be in the positions they are without the existence of Barstool and ability to freely create.

“I have a bigger heart than people give me credit for,” Portnoy said. “I’ve got these idiots at Barstool who have been with me for 15-20 years – the same people. If they don’t work for me – I don’t know – what are they going to do, bag groceries? They’re morons – they are truly morons. They fit in our circus in our moronic world.”

Having sold his company twice and becoming a staple of the modern sports media landscape and entertainment world, Barstool Sports has continued to see aggregate growth in key content metrics. The company recently celebrated its 20th anniversary with a special awards show from Boston, Mass., the metropolis where it was founded as a newspaper. Two decades later, the problem relates to the fact that the company finished last year in the red. Portnoy believes that he will be able to remedy it, pointing to its previous profitability every year under his ownership.

“It is a lot,” Portnoy said, referring to how much money the brand lost. “It’s a ton, but I’m rich and I can fix it. So if I have to lose money and pay for it for a month or two, fine, but we’ll get back to profit. We’ll have some layoffs, but we’ll get back to profitability pretty quick.”

1...2,0132,0142,015...2,883Page 2,014 of 2,883