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FOX Sports Radio Launches All-Female Show with Alex Curry & Monse Bolaños

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FOX Sports Radio Launches All-Female Show with Alex Curry & Monse Bolaños

FOX Sports Radio is pairing two women for a Saturday show beginning this week. Alex Curry and Monse Bolaños will partner for FOX Sports Saturday, the network’s only show with an all-female cast.

“From the moment I started in this industry, I’ve been saying, I want my own show, and I’ve been working towards that over the last decade,” Curry said in an interview with The Sporting Tribune. “To have an opportunity like this hosting a woman-led weekend show on FOX Sports Radio is just a dream come true.”

Curry has been with FOX since 2012. She currently is the co-host of the popular Flippin’ Bats podcast with Ben Verlander.

Bolaños has been on the staff at FOX Sports Radio since 2022. 

FOX Sports Saturday debuts this week. It will air from 4-6 pm Eastern.

Jon Jansen: Athletes Listen to Sports Radio

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Earlier this week, Philadelphia Phillies superstar outfielder and former National League most valuable player Bryce Harper dedicated a home run to a Philadelphia sports radio caller. Chuck from Mt. Airy called into Marks & Reese on SportsRadio 94WIP and expressed his thoughts on Harper and the Phillies without the knowledge that Harper was listening as he spoke. When he walked into the training center at Citizens Bank Park, Harper felt fired up and said that he was going to hit a home run for the caller. Sure enough, the outfielder came through with his 14th of the season, continuing his torrid stretch over the last 15 games where he has slashed a .400 average with 8 home runs and a 1.449 OPS.

Once Harper revealed his inspiration for the home run during his postgame remarks, Chuck was asked to return to WIP to give his perspective of how the events unfolded. In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, the caller shared how he felt when he was mentioned by one of the most eminent sports figures in the locale.

“I was just stunned and puzzled the whole time,” the caller said on Wednesday. “I didn’t go to sleep last night until probably about 1. My wife said, ‘Are you going to bed?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ I just kept listening to the audio because I was just in awe.”

Jon Jansen and fill-in host Jim Costa expressed how it was refreshing to see Harper endear himself to the fans. During the morning program on 97.1 The Ticket, they conveyed how no matter how much they want to deny it, professional athletes and team personnel listen to sports talk radio and consume sports media content.

“There are times that I listen and I’m like, ‘I can’t listen to this anymore,’ and then you turn it off for about 15 minutes,” Jansen said. “You turn it back on and you’re like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to see where this went.’”

“Think about that,” Costa implored. “Any time you call into this radio station, you could potentially be fueling a Tigers home run [or] a Lions touchdown.”

As a former offensive tackle, Jansen understands what it is like to listen to criticism from media members and fans throughout the year. Certain sports radio callers make names for themselves because of their opinions or the style of interaction they have with the host. There are moments where players and teams receive praise, but also those of splenetic conversation where callers have a place to vent their frustrations. Jansen urged Harper to realize, if he has not already, that the pendulum swings in both directions.

“There are people that are going to be Bryce Harper fans,” Jansen said, “and next time Bryce Harper strikes out, there’s going to be people that are going to call in [and go], ‘I know he’s listening. Why did he swing at that slider!?’”

Bill O’Reilly: Megyn Kelly Changed the Narrative Around Donald Trump in 2016

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To say former President Donald Trump’s relationship with the media is rocky would be a gross understatement. However, Bill O’Reilly believes former Fox News host Megyn Kelly changed the media narrative around the 45th President during the first Republican debate in 2016.

During his O’Reilly Morning Update Thursday, the former Fox News host shared that Kelly’s questioning of Trump and his disparaging statements about various women throughout the years altered the thinking of media members and executives.

“Just about eight years ago, Megyn Kelly launched a verbal rocket at Donald Trump during the first Republican campaign debate of the 2016 cycle. The subject was Mr. Trump’s disparaging comments about selected women. That confrontation changed the dynamic between the media and Donald Trump,” O’Reilly posited. “Up until then, the press actively pursued the businessman because he was good for business, but any media honeymoon quickly disappeared. It was inevitable as the American press corps is overwhelmingly liberal and his belief system. It has been that way since the Vietnam War.

“Donald Trump has never run as a standard conservative, but he was aggressively going after Hillary Clinton. So the press threw in with the Clinton campaign and created Russian collusion.”

O’Reilly then argued that Trump’s larger-than-life persona doesn’t require media attention or coverage.

“Today, the former president has few media allies as you know, but it really doesn’t matter. His presence is so overwhelming. Almost all negative information about him is rejected by his supporters, even as it is embraced by his detractors,” concluded O’Reilly. “Very few Americans are agnostic on Trump. So we might want to change media tactics a bit.”

Longtime NBC News Executive Don Browne Dies

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Former NBC News executive Don Browne died Wednesday. He was 80 years old.

Browne spent more than 30 years with NBC News, joining the company in 1979 after a decade at CBS News. After beginning as the network’s Miami bureau chief, he later ascended to the role of Executive News Director where he oversaw the Today Show.

In 1991, he became the Executive Vice President of NBC News. Dateline NBC was launched under his tutelage.

He later became the President and General Manager of NBC’s owned-and-operated WTVJ in Miami, before returning to the NBCUniversal executive team with Telemundo before retiring in 2011.

“He believed in quality journalism. But more importantly, he knew that great people would be able to tell great stories with support, mentoring, and coaching,” said NBC News Executive Yvette Miley told NBC Miami.

Doctors found a brain tumor in Browne in 2021 mere months after his wife, Maria, died of cancer.

Browne is survived by two sons and two grandchildren.

Dan Orlovsky: Pat McAfee Is One of the ‘Smartest, Idiotic People I Know’

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Dan Orlovsky: Pat McAfee Is One of the ‘Smartest, Idiotic People I Know’

Earlier this year, ESPN announced plans to bring The Pat McAfee Show to its daily programming lineup, marking a new era for the show after host Pat McAfee declared that another “Up to Something Season” had commenced. McAfee, representing the show, met with various networks over the course of several months before settling on signing with The Walt Disney Company-owned ESPN, calling its president of content, Burke Magnus, an ally to the show. McAfee’s show will be the exact same on ESPN, albeit bereft of expletives, and will live stream on the company’s digital platforms. The network’s new lineup officially debuts on Thursday, Sept. 7, coinciding with the start of the 2023 National Football League regular season.

Dan Orlovsky will be an integral part of the network’s coverage of both college football and the NFL this year, frequently appearing on NFL Live, calling select games in the secondary Monday Night Football booth and appearing on a Saturday show on the network to be named. ESPN Executive Editor and Head of Event and Studio Production Norby Williamson recently announced that Amanda Gifford would lead the network’s college football portfolio and Mark Gross over the NFL coverage. The announcements come following the sudden departure of senior vice president Lee Fitting, ending his 25-year tenure with the company.

Orlovsky was teammates with McAfee on the Indianapolis Colts and got to know him on the football field. Their initial friendship, however, blossomed during a conversation they had in a car on the night of the Heisman Trophy ceremony in the “Big Apple.”

“Sitting in the car talking with him, he was kind of telling me about the podcast and trying to generate that into what it’s become,” Orlovsky recalled. “I remember looking at him after… like, ‘You’re one of the smartest, idiotic people I know. I didn’t know you were this smart. Your personality is just so outrageous.’”

After the initial shock, Orlovsky began closely following McAfee’s media ventures and came to realize his sharp business acumen. During the negotiations, he had heard the rumors that there was traction towards McAfee agreeing to ink a contract to bring his show to ESPN and continuing to appear on College GameDay. In order to safeguard against disappointment, Orlovsky made sure to temper his expectations.

“You sit there and you hope, but you don’t want to get your hopes too high,” Orlovsky said. “When it became official, [I was] obviously super excited because I think the thing that is so endearing about Pat is, and it’s not in a disrespectful way, but he doesn’t let people’s opinions of him deviate who he is [or] alter who he is. We need more of that in the world, [and] we certainly need more of that in the sports media world.”

Orlovsky stressed that McAfee’s hosting approach portrays sports with buoyancy, understanding that at the end of the day, games are being played for purposes of entertainment. There are times on the air when analysts become serious or austere in their discourse and mannerisms, but people like McAfee understand that people are ultimately looking for an outlet to channel their emotions and be part of something bigger than themselves.

“I think the more that the people that are at the forefront of talking about sports and having fun talking about sports have those personality qualities, I think the more that that just is relatable to the people watching,” Orlovsky expressed. “More often than not, the people watching Pat are a lot like Pat. I think that’s kind of one of the lost – I don’t want to say ‘lost things’ in sports media – but we’re all regular people in many ways; we just somehow got on TV.”

Emmis Going Private After Shareholder Approval

BNM Staff
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Emmis Going Private After Shareholder Approval

Emmis Corporation, previously known as Emmis Communications, will go private after a shareholder meeting today.

Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve changing the company’s articles of incorporation.

The transition will not be a fast one, as the company will reacquire its stock at growing prices over a three-year period. Shares will be redeemed at price points growing from $6 per share in 2023, $6.50 in 2024, and $7.25 in 2025.

Company founder Jeff Smulyan owns all of the group’s Class B common stock. He has also agreed to not block the liquidation of his stock if all of the Class A stock hasn’t been acquired by August 2026.

“I am grateful to the Emmis shareholders for their tremendous support of our proposal to amend our articles of incorporation, which will give us the opportunity to return significant capital, invest in our current businesses, and seek new ventures,” Smulyan said in a statement.

Cris Collinsworth: ‘I’m Glad’ ESPN, Amazon Have Flex Scheduling

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Cris Collinsworth: ‘I’m Glad’ ESPN, Amazon Have Flex Scheduling

NBC Sports is prepared to begin a new year of Sunday Night Football as the National Football League season kicks off next week, coming off its 12th consecutive year as prime time television’s No. 1 program in all key metrics. The broadcast booth of play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico, color commentator Cris Collinsworth and sideline reporter Melissa Stark begin their second year working together, along with coordinating producer Rob Hyland.

The marquee sports property has had flex scheduling ability since 2006, allowing for the network to move a specific game into the prime-time slot with appropriate notice during select weeks in the season. It was introduced to ensure that the exclusive windows had a captivating game in order to engender better ratings, and thus more revenue across the board.

“We’re tasked with putting on the best product every Sunday night, and we hope we are giving the viewer the best game every Sunday night that we can,” Hyland said. “I think the landscape has gotten obviously more competitive… but we will do the absolute same job with any game on our schedule.”

When the National Football League agreed to a new 11-year media rights deal worth more than $12 billion per year across various networks, Sunday Night Football lost its exclusive flex scheduling ability. Monday Night Football on ESPN, featuring the lead commentary team of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters, became the second property to garner flex scheduling power.

During the NFL offseason, Amazon Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football with Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung gained the ability twice per year, leading into the first NFL season where three properties can flex schedule games.

NBC Sports can flex schedule twice between Week 5 and 10 and at the discretion of the league between Weeks 11 and 17. ESPN can flex games between Week 12 and 17, while Prime Video can do so between Weeks 13 and 17. National Football League Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp shared that since 2006, Sunday Night Football has flexed games an average of one-and-a-half times per season.

“I hope the NFL works with us if one of our games doesn’t pan out the way it looks today… when we get there,” Hyland said. “But again, we expect and are hopeful that our schedule will hold up and that we don’t need to flex, but we understand the landscape is now different.”

Collinsworth formerly worked with Al Michaels in the Sunday Night Football commentary booth for 15 seasons, bringing fans signature matchups from week to week. Over the last several years, there has been a sustained level of parity within the sport and plenty of compelling storylines to follow. Last season, Michaels bemoaned parts of Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football schedule, saying in an interview with The Athletic, “I can’t sell a used car.” For Collinsworth, he values having an entertaining matchup in the Sunday Night Football slot.

“I don’t want a bad game in prime time,” Collinsworth said. “At least if you’re watching at 1 or 4, you can always flip around and find a different game if the one you’re watching is not very good, but if they put a bad game in prime time, you feel a little cheated. There’s only one game on; there’s nowhere to go. Yes, I work in the NFL, but first and foremost I’m a fan. I like watching the games, and I want to see the best games.”

NBC Sports will broadcast the kickoff game next Thursday night between the Detroit Lions and defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Three nights later, the premiere of Sunday Night Football takes place from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. when Daniel Jones and the New York Giants host Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.

Coverage begins with Football Night in America at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST featuring host Maria Taylor and analysts Tony Dungy, Devin McCourty, Jason Garrett and Rodney Harrison among others. Tirico, Collinsworth and Stark bring viewers the action starting at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST, complete with a new show open featuring country music superstar Carrie Underwood.

Clay Travis, Keith Olbermann Spar After Criticism of Riley Gaines

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Clay Travis, Keith Olbermann Spar After Criticism of Riley Gaines

OutKick founder Clay Travis defended Riley Gaines from criticism after former cable news host Keith Olbermann denigrated her on social media.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, Gaines — who hosts a podcast for OutKick defending biological women competing in women’s sports without the inclusion of trans athletes — reacted to a statement from Nebraska State Senator Megan Hunt (D). Hunt called the decision by the Nebraska governor to establish a “Women’s Bill of Rights” in the state “offensive and ridiculous”.

“Defining woman = ridiculous to state senator Megan Hunt,” Gaines posted with three clown emojis. “Remember that next election, Nebraskans.”

In response, Olbermann took a shot at the former college athlete.

“Can you just address the reality and move past it? You sucked at swimming. That’s why you lost,” wrote Olbermann.

Gaines rose to prominence after tying for fifth place in the women’s 200-yard freestyle at the NCAA Swimming Championships to Lia Thomas. Thomas became the first transgender athlete to win a national championship in a women’s sport during the women’s 500-yard freestyle at the same meet. Gaines has subsequently become a prominent voice in conservative media circles for her advocacy and protesting of NCAA and other governing body’s policies surrounding the inclusion of transgender athletes.

After Olbermann’s comment, Travis responded by calling the argument from the former cable news and ESPN host “profoundly dumb even for you, Keith”.

Riley Gaines “was one of the best women’s collegiate swimmers in the country. She was forced to swim against a man pretending to be a woman,” wrote Clay Travis. “Do you really think men’s and women’s sports shouldn’t be separated?”

Gaines responded to Olbermann’s message by saying “makes sense now why you got fired from ESPN”.

As of publication, Olbermann has not responded to either message.

KXEL’s Jeff Stein: News/Talk Can Be A Catalyst For Voter Participation in Iowa

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KXEL’s Jeff Stein: News/Talk Can Be A Catalyst For Voter Participation in Iowa

With the 2024 Republican Presidential race heating up, many candidates have turned their focus to Iowa. While the state’s caucuses won’t happen for another five months, that doesn’t mean it isn’t the center of the conservative political world. And KXEL Program Director Jeff Stein believes that’s a good thing for both his station and his listeners.

KXEL, a news/talk station in Waterloo, hosted an event dubbed the Caucus Cookout last weekend, a listener appreciation event. At the event, held at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds, nearly half of the campaigns for Republican hopefuls participated.

“The more candidates we can place in front of our listeners in person, in addition to our radio interviews, the better the chance that people will participate in the process and make good choices,” Stein said.

“Our job is not to play favorites or pick winners; our job is to make sure all voices are given a fair chance to be heard.”

In addition to serving as the station’s Program Director, Jeff Stein also hosts a mid-morning show on the Iowa news/talk station.

The 2024 Iowa Caucuses are scheduled for Monday, January 15th.

Barstool Sports Reportedly Laying Off 25% of Workforce

BSM Staff
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Barstool Sports is reportedly set to lay off 25% of its 430 employees, according to a recent report from the New York Post. Company founder Dave Portnoy retained control of the company as part of the transaction that ESPN completed with PENN Entertainment to launch ESPN BET, agreeing to a set of conditions to reacquire the brand for $1. About 100 people are expected to lose their jobs on Thursday, and those remaining, according to Portnoy, will need to “step the f**k up.”

Portnoy divulged that Barstool Sports was losing millions of dollars before he bought the company back, leading to nearly $850 million in losses. PENN had fully acquired Barstool Sports earlier this year for $388 million, but had caused impedance towards how the brand is operated to retain its regulatory licenses. When popular personality Ben Mintz uttered a racial slur on a livestream, the parent company demanded he be fired, despite resistance from Portnoy, CEO Erika Ayers Badan and Pardon My Take co-host Dan Katz. As soon as Portnoy became the owner, he immediately re-hired Mintz and welcomed him back to Barstool.

In recent appearances on the Barstool Radio show, Portnoy stated that the company is in the process of trying to reach a “break-even thing.” Throughout his remarks, he expressed that Barstool is losing a lot and has to make these moves to ensure its prosperity. Portnoy does not like firing people, saying that it is the worst thing he can do but necessary at this point. Throughout the company’s time under the auspices of PENN Entertainment, it added nearly 300 employees and announced plans to open an office in Chicago.

Ayers Baden stated on LinkedIn Thursday morning that the company has a history of hiring and training “the best of the best” and she is sad that some of them have to be let go. “I urge any company that can hire them to do so. They’re all-stars,” she wrote in a post showing the letter she sent to staff Thursday morning.

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