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Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Want Shannon Sharpe on First Take Period’

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Stephen A. Smith has a wishlist for the future of First Take, and there is one name he is not beating around the bush about.

“I want Shannon Sharpe on First Take, period,” he said on the Friday edition of The Stephen A. Smith Show.

Speculation began almost immediately after Shannon Sharpe announced that he was leaving FS1 that he may end up with ESPN. Smith confirmed that, while no deal is done yet, it is more than just rumor and wishful thinking.

“The conversations are official, the reports have not been misnomers or misreports or anything like that,” he said. “We are talking to him and I’m hopeful, very hopeful, very confident that ultimately we will be announcing sooner than later that he will be on First Take.”

Sharpe’s wasn’t the only name Smith mentioned. He has said in the past that he likes the show’s current setup with Molly Qerim as the host and him debating a guest every day. With the football season around the corner, Smith said he hopes the rotation for the fall includes First Take regulars Ryan Clark, Marcus Spears and Dan Orlovsky. He added that he hopes Kimberley A. Martin and Mina Kimes will join the mix as well.

Smith has been on vacation, but is expected to be back on ESPN next week. It is expected that in the coming days he will address the status of Michael Irvin at the network and whether or not he will be returning to First Take in 2023.

Kevin Scott Departs Audacy Traffic Weather & Information Network

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Audacy Traffic Weather & Information Network regional operations director Kevin Scott has exited.

Scott — who was stationed in Chicago and had been with the network since it was launched in 2017 — says he is the victim of budget cuts at the outlet.

“I’m proud of everything we accomplished.  We had a great team effort throughout the country with TWIN and in Chicago. I value every minute we were together and with my co-workers, we became a family,” he told All Access.

“It was a very hard job but also an incredibly rewarding experience that I was proud and honored to be a part of.  I understand the business decision, and I wish everyone at WBBM, TWIN, and Audacy all the best.”

Audacy is currently in the midst of instituting a plan to restructure nearly $2 billion in debt it holds. It also recently implemented a 1-for-30 reverse stock split in an effort to restore its NYSE stock price to more than $1. It was suspended in May for being non-compliant with NYSE rules on minimum price.

The View Co-Founder Bill Geddie Dies

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The View Co-Founder Bill Geddie Dies

Bill Geddie, the legendary news producer who worked with Barbara Walters and helped launch The View, has died.

Geddie, according to his family, died of coronary-related factors. He was 68.

“He was a big deal in TV, but at home, he was an even ‘bigger than life’ husband and dad,” said Geddie’s family.  “He had a genuine love for television and entertainment. He would try everything and did it well — screenwriting, recording podcasts, playing guitar, writing songs, and loved a wide range of music from country to jazz. 

“His favorite band was The Beatles, and he never thought he would have the opportunity to meet one of his personal heroes Paul McCartney in person, but his dream came true. The question wasn’t who did he meet, but rather who didn’t he meet?”

In addition to co-founding The View, he served as the show’s executive producer for 17 years. He and Walters were partners for more than 25 years. Geddie served as her writer, executive producer, and director for several of her famous specials. He also served as a producer at Good Morning America.

The View co-host Joy Behar shared her sympathy to Geddies’ family after the news was announced.

“As a producer, he kept us together and was very loyal to his staff. Bill loved comedy and plenty of laughs not to mention a good cigar. I’m forever grateful to him and Barbara for the opportunity to be on The View,” Behar wrote.

Spike Eskin Asks Boomer & Gio to Give Out His Brother’s Number on the Air

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WFAN programmer Spike Eskin celebrated his brother’s 39th birthday in a devious way on Friday morning. Jason Eskin is the vice president of digital marketing for The Walt Disney Studios and now most of New York knows how to get in touch with him.

Older brother Spike requested WFAN’s morning duo of Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti send their well wishes. Both did just that over the air and then followed up on fulfilling Spike’s second request.

“He said, ‘Would you mind reading his cell phone number on the air?,’” Giannotti said of Eskin on WFAN. “So that’s what we’re going to do – for real. So I’m going to read his actual cell phone number on the air… Please text and call Jason [to wish him] a happy birthday.”

Divulging Jason Eskin’s actual cell phone number both on Twitter and over the air is a tradition for his brother. He polled Twitter users as to whether or not he should do it again. The results of the survey came in, with over 75% of people imploring Eskin to reveal the digits to reach his brother.

https://twitter.com/SpikeEskin/status/1682389686273073152?s=20

Upon giving out the number on the air, update anchor Jerry Recco wrote him a message saying, “Happy birthday – hope you have a great day.” The show then continued to compel listeners to reach out, and while the results of the endeavor are not yet known, it is very likely that Jason has received a deluge of texts and calls.

“Make sure you do it because Spike is also using this as audience research to see how many people are going to text him,” Giannotti added.

ESPN Has Reportedly Met With NFL, NBA About Minority Stake

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Since he announced last week that ESPN would consider taking on a strategic partner, much of the speculation has been that Bob Iger has his eyes on other media companies or private equity firms. That may be true, but the field may also not be that limited. 

According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Iger has had talks with two of ESPN’s biggest rights partners. Sources tell Sherman that Iger and ESPN boss Jimmy Pitaro have had discussions about minority investments from the NFL and the NBA.

Spokespeople for both ESPN and the NFL declined to comment. The NBA issued a statement, but it had very little meat to it.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Disney and look forward to continuing the discussions around the future of our partnership,” it read.

Discussions of the NBA owning a minority stake in ESPN have been part of the league negotiating a new media rights deal with Disney. Talks with the NFL have reportedly also included the potential for Disney to have a stake in NFL Media as well.

While a deal with a league would make sense for ESPN, it does raise a number of ethical questions. Would ESPN’s investigative reports suddenly find a league that owns a share of their employer to be off-limits? How would lawmakers view this sort of partnership in terms of anti-trust considerations? The partnership would be an unprecedented one, which is why there are so many questions to answer. 

Sherman writes that there are a number of different ways any kind of partnership with ESPN and one of the major leagues could look. No deal appears to be imminent. 

Kirsten Powers Exits CNN

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Kirsten Powers Exits CNN

CNN Senior Political Analyst Kirsten Powers has announced she has left the network.

Powers joined CNN just before the 2016 presidential election after more than a decade at Fox News. After she left Fox News, Powers accused the network of failing to act after she filed a complaint against network star Bill O’Reilly, who eventually departed the network over sexual misconduct allegations.

Additionally, she was previously a columnist for USA Today, The Daily Beast, and The New York Post, among other outlets.

 “After 7 years, CNN and I have parted ways,” Powers wrote in a post to Instagram. “I brought my most authentic self to the table and did my best to serve the viewers and try and make sense of our increasingly out of control political world.”

The news that Powers would exit the company comes at the same time that CNN has added former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield in a similar role.

Pac-12 Commissioner: The Longer We Wait on TV Deal, the Better Our Options

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Pac-12 Commissioner: The Longer We Wait on TV Deal, the Better Our Options

Is it a good thing that the Pac-12 still hasn’t announced a new TV deal? That is what George Kliavkoff wants the media to believe.

Speaking at the conference’s media day in Las Vegas, the conference commissioner told reporters that it was a conscious decision not to have any information to share about new TV partners.

“We are not announcing the TV deal today on purpose because I want the focus to be on football,” he said according to reporters in the Las Vegas room.

Reports last week indicated that the conference was hoping to announce a TV deal on Friday to open the event. Kliavkoff says that the fact that did not happen could be advantageous for the conference in the end.

“The longer we wait for our media deal the better our options are.”

At this point, so much information has been in the media about what networks are involved in discussions with the conference and which ones are not, that it is hard to tell who is working on a deal and how close it is.

Past reports have indicated that several schools began considering their options last year when USC and UCLA announced they were leaving the Pac-12 and going to the Big Ten. Uncertainty about the conference’s TV future has only added fuel to that speculation. 

Kliavkoff said that he is not worried about any other schools looking for a new conference. In fact, if not for the exit of the two Southern California schools, the fact that a new media rights deal hasn’t been announced wouldn’t even be a story.

“We are on track to announce our deal the same time everyone would have anticipated before realignment,” he said. “The patience will be rewarded.”

Bill Hemmer: Fox News Was Only Network to Cover RFK Jr. Hearing

BNM Staff
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A quite contentious hearing featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was held on Capitol Hill Thursday, and Bill Hemmer is taking a victory lap for Fox News.

During America’s Newsroom Friday, anchor Bill Hemmer — alongside Dana Perino — noted the network was the only cable news outlet to feature extensive coverage of the hearing.

“Just about 24 hours ago you were watching that with Dana and me here. About the only place you could see it, in fact. Yesterday’s combative hearing on the Hill over the government’s role in suppression of information,” Hemmer said.

“Believe it or not, censorship was on full display. RFK Jr. begging his fellow Democrats to allow him to speak. Democrats were relentless in their hits back against him. And against Biden’s potential top challenger for the Democratic nomination for president. At one point, they were asked to go into special session behind closed doors.”

Hemmer later continued by saying “Unfortunately, you could only see it in one place, and that was on America’s Newsroom.”

CNN Adds Kate Bedingfield as Political Commentator

BNM Staff
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CNN Adds Kate Bedingfield as Political Commentator

CNN has added former White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield as an on-air political commentator.

Bedingfield worked in the Biden White House for two years before jumping to CNN. In total, she has more than 20 years of political and corporate communications.

She worked as Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director for the Biden-Harris campaign in 2020 and was also President Biden’s Communications Director during his time as Vice President in the Obama White House.

Additionally, she has worked in both sports and entertainment before her political work. She worked for the Motion Picture Association and Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

Bedingfield will be based in Washington D.C. in her new role with CNN.

MLB Network Takes MLB Now & MLB Tonight to Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend

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MLB Network Takes MLB Now & MLB Tonight to Cooperstown for Hall of Fame Weekend

MLB Network is taking two of its signature shows to Cooperstown this weekend. One Saturday, MLB Now and MLB Tonight will be on site as the class of 2023 is enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The network is the exclusive TV home of the induction ceremony, which happens on Sunday at 1:30 PM Eastern. Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff are receiving the honor this year.

Coverage begins at noon on Saturday with MLB Now. Brian Kenny will be joined by Jayson Stark and John Morosi to look back at the players’ careers. MLB Tonight begins at 6 pm. Adnan Virk and Harold Reynolds.

Plenty of fellow Hall of Famers are expected to be on hand. Chipper Jones, Albert Pujols, Jeff Bagwell and Ryne Sandberg are all scheduled to appear on Saturday’s broadcast.

On Sunday, Greg Amsinger will lead the broadcast preceding the induction ceremony. He will be joined by Morosi, Reynolds, Stark and Hall of Fame voter Tom Verducci beginning at noon.

Bob Costas will not be on hand for the event, but his voice will be. He has written and voiced a vignette about McGriff and Rolen that will air to start the ceremony.

Brian Kenny and MLB Now will still be in Cooperstown on Monday. The show will recap highlights of the weekend beginning at noon Eastern that day.

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