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Study Shows Declining Interest in Sports, Live Games For Gen Z

BSM Staff
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The future of sports media is a mystery. Not only do new platforms constantly emerge, but the people that have been in the business for a long time are in for a rude awakening as Gen Z comes of age to start making purchasing and consumption decisions.

A new study shows that sports fandom and dedication to live games is on the decline with people between the ages of 18 and 26. Legacy media (television, radio, and print) fared particularly poorly.

The study, which was commissioned by Vizrt and conducted by OnePoll, shows that 80% of Gen Z generally watched sports on their phone. More than half of those that choose the phone say it is for convenience. 38% say it is the only way they access any entertainment.

More interesting, is the amount of time the generation devotes to sports. 23% of respondents say they only consume highlights, while 17% say they have no problem watching a game after it has already aired because they value their own schedule over a league’s or network’s.

 “There’s a drastic shift in how the younger demographic are interacting with, and consuming sports content,” Pino Barile, head of sport, USA, Vizrt, said in a press release. “To truly keep these fans engaged, broadcasters must adapt their content for the younger generation’s viewing habits.”

Fandom in general is on the decline. Only 58% of Get Zers say they enjoy live sports. Football takes the biggest hit between generations.Only 29% of Gen Z says it is their favorite sport to watch compared to 39% of Gen Xers.

Mike Florio: NFL Films ‘Wants Volunteers, Not Hostages’ For Hard Knocks

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Mike Florio: NFL Films ‘Wants Volunteers, Not Hostages’ For Hard Knocks

Most NFL teams seem to want nothing to do with Hard Knocks. That isn’t good for NFL Films. There is a list of teams that could be forced to do it, but Mike Florio says that is not what the league wants.

The Pro Football Talk scribe was on 670 The Score Tuesday morning. He told Chicago sports fans they do not have to worry about the Bears being the focus of the show.

“Just like Mike Tomlin says, ‘We want volunteers, not hostages,’” Florio said on Mully & Haugh. “NFL Films wants volunteers, not hostages, to do Hard Knocks. So, I think the Bears are in the clear.”

NFL Films needs to find more than one willing team. Florio noted that there are two editions of Hard Knocks every year. That makes finding willing participants twice as hard as it used to be.

He believes the league has found one willing participant. It isn’t known when they would be expected to let the cameras in though.

“The Commanders are in the running to be either the preseason Hard Knocks or the in-season Hard Knocks and I think they’ll do it. The league wants to wait until the sale of the team is finalized before doing anything.”

The New York Jets have been the subject of much speculation. With the addition of Aaron Rodgers, expectations for the team are as high as they have been in a long time. On ProFootballTalk.com though, Florio reports that they would not be interested unless forced to participate. If what he told Mully & Haugh is true, that would likely take them out of the running.

Utah Jazz Launch Streaming Service, Move Local TV Rights to Broadcast TV

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Utah Jazz Launch Streaming Service, Move Local TV Rights to Broadcast TV

The Utah Jazz are following the Phoenix Suns off of cable and on to network television. Fans can see the team’s games on KJZZ-TV in Salt Lake City next season.

After Warner Bros. Discovery decided to get out of the regional sports network business, the Jazz were left searching for a new home. While AT&T SportsNet was no longer an option, The Athletic reports that the Jazz’s deal was already set to expire and the team was looking for a new deal.

Interestingly, KJZZ and KUTV, which will air some Jazz shoulder programming, are both owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns Diamond Sports Group. Diamond’s Bally Sports networks are in a state of uncertainty when it comes to their television rights deals following a filing for bankruptcy.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith calls this an “entirely new model” for local broadcast rights distribution in the NBA. The team’s games will be produced in house by the newly formed SEG Media. 

Fans will also have a direct-to-consumer option. It is still unnamed, but the product will require a subscription. It will allow fans living within 150 miles of Salt Lake City to stream all Jazz games and content through the team’s website and app. The team’s goal is for the app to be available in other markets, but conflicts with NBA League Pass are being worked out.

Something like this was hinted at earlier this month by Smith. In an interview with Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast, he alluded to the lack of reach AT&T Sports Network had. He said that reaching only 40% of the market was “not gonna fly” in the team’s next deal.

With the new deal, Smith told The Athletic that he has achieved his goal of making it as easy as possible for fans in Utah to see every Jazz game. 

“If you’ve got bunny ears on your TV you can get Jazz games,” he said.

Keith Olbermann: I Saved MSNBC From Going Out of Business

BNM Staff
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Recent comments from MSNBC President Rashida Jones have caught the ire of former network host Keith Olbermann.

During a segment of his Countdown with Keith Olbermann podcast Tuesday, the former cable news host took credit for keeping MSNBC on the air on two different occasions in the 2000s, after arguing that having an expressed point of view has always been beneficial for cable news networks.

“From its second year on the air, MSNBC has always had a point of view,” Olbermann said. “Now, it has never been the same point of view for very long. First, it was anti-Bill Clinton. Then I sort of forced it to become ‘To hell with all the politicians’. Then it was the 2002 attempt to go further to the right than Fox was.

“And then just before they were literally going to turn the network into all prison documentaries starting at nine o’clock every night, I started pointing out the hypocrisy of Bush and the Iraq War. And, suddenly, MSNBC had purpose and profit. That is why MSNBC did not go out of business in 2005. We’re off the air anyway. And why did not go off the air in 2009.”

The 64-year-old Olbermann had two separate stints at MSNBC during his career. He worked there from 1997 to 1998, before returning in 2003 and staying until 2011.

New WFAN Lineup With Sal Licata in Middays and Tiki Barber in Afternoons Starting in July

BSM Staff
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New WFAN Lineup With Sal Licata in Middays and Tiki Barber in Afternoons Starting in July

WFAN has made its changes official, adding Sal Licata to middays and Tiki Barber to afternoon drive as a result of the departure of Craig Carton for Fox Sports 1 on a full-time basis. Shaun Morash will be added as a producer of Evan & Tiki, and he will work closely alongside executive producer Tommy Lugauer. Additionally, Chris McMonigle, who had served as the associate producer of Carton & Roberts, will serve as the station’s new overnight host. The announcements were made on Tuesday’s edition of Carton & Roberts, and is effectively the start of a new era on the station. Keith McPherson, who joined the station in Nov. 2021 as its nighttime host, will have the longest-tenured program following mornings when the new lineup takes effect on July 24.

These moves mean that Tiki and Tierney, who had worked together since 2013 when they teamed up at CBS Sports Radio, will officially be split up.

“I thank you, Brandon; I really do,” Barber said. “My career would not have had any chance of being real if I had been with someone who didn’t care to make me better at what I do. That’s the most important thing I can say.”

Tierney and Licata will be on the air from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EST, and they will immediately be followed by Roberts and Barber from 2 to 6:30 p.m. The shift in the lineup represents the first significant programming change made under program director Spike Eskin.

“We went through a long period of time without any change at all to the lineup, and obviously over the last five years…. there’s been more changes to the lineup than any other five-year period in FAN’s history.

Licata, a Long Island native, began his radio career interning at WFAN in 2003. In addition to his radio work – which included stints as a producer, update anchor and overnight host – he appears on SNY’s Baseball Night in NY and Honda SportsNite. Licata is expected to retain those roles, but will move out of overnights for McMonigle. Last year, Licata famously went viral for declaring the National League East division was “over” when the New York Mets had a sizable lead on the Atlanta Braves. The Mets proceeded to cough up the division lead in the final two weeks of the season.

WFAN is moving Barber to afternoons with the hope that he and Roberts will form an electric and entertaining drive time duo. From the onset of his return to WFAN, Carton prioritized helping Roberts cultivate his voice in the radio market. Over the last three years hosting the show with Carton, his popularity has steadily grown.

“The new lineup card of WFAN continues to exemplify the station’s extraordinary depth of talent with all-star veterans and next-generation voices,” Chris Oliviero, Audacy New York market president, said in a press release. “This roster, with the additions of Tiki to afternoons and Sal to middays, and including the market-leading Boomer & Gio morning show, will continue WFAN’s now nearly 40-year dominance of the sports conversation in New York.”

Barber joined WFAN when he and Tierney’s show was transitioned to a local program last January after a nine-year stint with CBS Sports Radio, replacing Marc Malusis and Maggie Gray. Malusis ultimately ended up signing with PIX11 as a sports anchor and reporter, while Gray moved over to national radio to host a program with Andrew Perloff. New York sports fans remember Barber from his days as a player, granting him a cache with the audience through his unparalleled insight into the world of professional football.

“It is biter-sweet for me because Brandon became a brother over those years,” Barber said. “I hate that we’re not going together, but opportunities present themselves and they’re very rarely perfect. I also know that you’ve got to be ready for them, and you’ve got to be willing to take them — even if  it’s painful sometimes.”

The motivating factor for Carton to leaving WFAN was being able to spend more time with his family. Though he will no longer be heard daily on the New York sports radio airwaves, he won’t won’t step away from WFAN and Audacy completely. Carton will be in the building on Thursdays to record his podcast, Hello, My Name Is Craig, about the risks of sports gambling and addiction. Throughout the announcement of his departure, he has expressed his gratitude to Audacy and WFAN for giving him a second chance and aims to maintain “an active, amazing relationship with the radio station.”

Listeners can tune into the station using the free Audacy app, on the station’s website or over the air on the outlet’s AM (66) and FM (101.9) frequencies.

Michael Smerconish Hosts SiriusXM Town Hall with Vivek Ramaswamy

BNM Staff
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Michael Smerconish Hosts SiriusXM Town Hall with Vivek Ramaswamy

SiriusXM POTUS host Michael Smerconish hosted a town hall event with prospective 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Tuesday.

The event was hosted at the Centre Theater in Norristown, PA. Topics included affirmative action, the indictment of former President Donald Trump, and others in front of a live audience.

One of the first questions Smerconish jokingly asked Ramaswamy was about the 37-year-old candidate’s college alter ego. Ramaswamy admitted that he had rapped under an alias in college, and after being put on the spot by the host, he brought up a former rhyme for the audience.

In addition to the town hall airing on SiriusXM, Ramaswamy streamed the event on his own YouTube channel.

The event with Ramaswamy comes weeks after Smerconish hosted a similar event with 2024 Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The SiriusXM host has said he wants to host as many potential candidates as possible.

A Journalists Guide to Pushing Back Against Asinine Talking Points

BNM Staff
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Journalists are obligated to let Presidential candidates from both sides air their complaints against or support for the Special Counsel’s indictment of Donald Trump. It is how we get to know them.

But since President Biden has ordered silence in his administration to avoid the appearance of a political prosecution — thus allowing Jack Smith to operate on his own as he investigates the long list of misdeeds the former President is accused of committing — it’s the GOP that is filling airwaves with their defense of Donald Trump.

Their talking points lead with “what-aboutism?” and false equivalency reporters should be prepared to call out. If not, journalists become microphone stands and not truth seekers.

What I present here is a handy guide to follow before engaging with Republican candidates for President. I will use Mike Pence’s appearance on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd Sunday as an example.

While Pence concedes the charges against Trump are serious, he immediately jumps into “what about the emails?” false equivalency.

Answer: Here is the evidence to refute his claim that “Hillary Clinton got a pass?”. The State Department after years of investigation released well into the Trump administration found “no evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information?.

The Trump administration, with its own Attorney General Bill Barr, had 4 years to prosecute Mrs. Clinton and did not. And finally, Clinton cooperated with the FBI and turned over her emails. And the FBI concluded she was sloppy by using a private email server, but did not intend to break the law. Trump is accused of obstruction.

Next: Pence and others complain that the Department of Justice is not pursuing President Biden with the same vigor it investigated Donald Trump.

Challenge: A special counsel has been appointed to investigate Biden’s possession of classified documents and again he is fully cooperating with the investigation. No subpoena has been issued because of that cooperation and no FBI search has been required. As Bill Barr has said recently, “President Trump brought this on himself?”. If the former President had turned the documents over any time before his indictment, it is highly unlikely he would have been charged at all.

Next: Republicans, including in Pence’s interview, claim Hunter Biden has not been vigorously investigated.

Challenge: The Republican-appointed U.S. Attorney in Delaware David Weiss has been probing the Biden son’s taxes and business troubles since 2018 under Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland has allowed the Trump administration holdover complete autonomy in the probe. And reports are Hunter is close to being charged. However, no link to President Biden has been alleged by the government.

And after a 4-month investigation, House Republicans were forced to concede they found no evidence of a specific connection to the President in Hunter’s business deals.

Next: Another frequent claim by Republicans is that the DOJ has treated BLM protestors differently than Jan. 6 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol.

Challenge: More than 300 protestors were arrested and charged with federal crimes during the summer of George Floyd demonstrations. And dozens have been convicted.

Next: Republicans routinely blame Joe Biden for increasing the national debt and putting country in crisis.

Challenge: The last 5 Presidents and their deficit contributions according to the Treasury Department

Joe Biden 6.3%
Donald Trump 40.43%
Barack Obama 69.98%
George W. Bush 105%
Bill Clinton 31.64%

So far, Biden has added nearly 2 trillion to deficit in 2 years. Donald Trump in 4 years added more than 8 trillion. Both Presidents had Covid on their watch and passed expensive, but generally successful assistance packages.

Next: Finally, in repeated campaign statements and in his interview with Chuck Todd, former Vice President Pence claims he is proud of all the achievements made during the Trump administration. Todd let that one go by unchallenged.

Challenge: Are you proud of the Covid delayed response health experts say caused 100,000 unnecessary deaths? 40% of Covid deaths could have been averted if the Trump administration had taken the pandemic seriously. This according to a Harvard study.

For Pence specifically, who was in charge of the Covid response under Trump, this follow-up: Why did you not publicly refute this President’s assertion that ultraviolet light shined into the body or an injection of bleach should be considered a Covid treatment?

Are you also proud of child separation policy, otherwise known as kids in cages policy that separated parents at the border and led to 1000 kids still missing somewhere in the United States?

The research for those challenges took less than 2 hours at the computer.

The amount of disinformation that politicians can pack in one interview is mind-boggling and a very real challenge for reporters. And today’s environment where interviewees come to the microphone with a list of talking points and attempt to filibuster their way through the Q-and-A without really answering a question makes it a struggle.

The best way to combat this is to think ahead about your questions and which talking points you expect to hear. And come armed with not just a microphone to hold, but a fact sheet up your sleeve.

Nick Wright: Denver Needs to ‘Get Over’ Grievances With Media

BSM Staff
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Denver fans don’t seem like they are enjoying the Nuggets’ first-ever NBA title nearly as much as they are enjoying rubbing said title in the faces of members of the national media that doubted the team. Nick Wright has had about enough of it and he let 104.3 The Fan’s Schlereth & Evans know it Tuesday morning.

Throughout the season, Wright noted that he had trouble justifying a third consecutive league MVP for Nikola Jokić before the big man even had a single NBA title. He pointed to history noting that didn’t happen for LeBron, for Jordan, or for Kareem. Schlereth asked him if after seeing Jokić’s playoff performance, did the FS1 star think it was unfair that voters gave the award to Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid or if he regretted advocating against Jokić.

Wright had no problem defending himself or Embiid’s victory. He said that until the team won the NBA Finals, they hadn’t done anything extraordinary.

“I don’t think that was unfair,” he said. “I think Denver fans, and their coach and their broadcaster, take your victory lap. You guys won. You’re the champion. You have unequivocally one of the two best players in the world and most people think the best player in the world. The grievances? Get over it, all of them. Get over it!”

Schlereth joked that Wright is so disliked by Nuggets fans, that he gets grief for being friends with Wright. He said there was a barrage of blowback Tuesday morning when he tweeted that his “good friend Nick Wright” was going to join the show.

Wright answered by saying the chest-thumping in Denver has turned into something more pathetic. He wonders if basketball fans in the city even care what the team accomplished.

“It seems like ‘nobody believes in us’ is a very powerful thing in sports. That’s fine,” Wright said. “But the whining from, like folks being mad at Stink because he has a personal relationship with me? It’s embarrassing! You guys are the champs! At this point, Jokić has a near-perfect approval rating.”

Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum to Moderate First GOP Primary Debate

BNM Staff
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Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum will serve as moderators for the first 2024 Republican presidential debate later this year.

The network announced the first debate is scheduled for Wednesday, August 23rd in Milwaukee. It is currently slated to air from 9:00-11:00 PM ET.

Baier and MacCallum have previously co-anchored Fox News election coverage and also moderated a town hall together with former President Trump in 2020.

Trump’s involvement in the first debate remains up in the air. Trump has reportedly claimed participating in the first two debates provides more incentives to challengers than it does to him. A May report from The New York Times claimed Trump was hesitant to participate in an event moderated by Baier.

However, Trump sat down for an hour-long recorded interview with Baier yesterday. The interview won Baier praise from both sides of the political aisle for not caving to unsubstantiated claims made by Trump about the validity of the 2020 presidential election.

The debate will be simulcast on Fox Business Network and the FOX Nation streaming platform.

NewsNation Hosting Town Hall with RFK Jr.

BNM Staff
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NewsNation Hosting Town Hall with RFK Jr.

NewsNation has announced it will host a live town hall event with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. next week.

RFK Jr. is seeking the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, and will sit down with anchor Elizabeth Vargas on Wednesday, June 28th at 9:00 PM ET.

The NewsNation event will air from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, the same location as CNN’s contentious town hall event with former President Donald Trump.

Kennedy has been in the news after a controversial appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience. In the episode, he espoused his anti-vaccine beliefs, shared that he believes wifi is causing brain damage, and chemicals in the water supply are the reason for a rise in transgenderism, among other claims. After his appearance on Rogan’s podcast, an interview he did with Jordan Peterson was removed from YouTube, with Peterson claiming the digital video platform was “interfering” in the upcoming election.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is currently polling at 17%, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. That number has been as high as 20% according to a May survey from CNN.

After the 90-minute town hall event, a special edition of [CUOMO] will recap the statements made by the prospective nominee.

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