As regional sports networks try to stay prudent of mercurial revenue streams, cable operators are searching for methods to sustain the fading business model and continue profits. Charter, which owns and operates Spectrum cable, is now launching a programming package bereft of both regional sports networks and league-owned networks beginning in the third fiscal quarter.
Service in the revamped Spectrum TV Select will be split into two different tiers depending on the presence of these sports networks. Spectrum Select Signature will not include the aforementioned sports networks, but subscribers will still have access to ESPN and FOX Sports 1. Conversely, Spectrum Select Plus will include the regional sports networks and additional premium sports services, some of which include Golf Channel, NHL Network and NFL RedZone.
The cost between the two services is expected to vary by about $10 per month, according to Sports Business Journal media reporter John Ourand. Moreover, the new tiers will reportedly only be marketed to new customers or those interested in changing their slate of programming.
Additionally, Charter has renewed its regional deals with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers on Spectrum SportsNet and Spectrum SportsNet LA, respectively. The latter channel had a prolonged contract dispute with DIRECTV; however, terms were agreed to that significantly attenuates the distribution threshold.
As a result, the company was able to create an option with a nominal fee and aims to create an over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform for consumers to have more ways to watch the networks. DIRECTV will also create direct-to-consumer streaming services for its Los Angeles regional sports networks, and it will be available to all multichannel video customers subscribed to a package with these networks. A specific launch date and price has not yet been determined.
After all, cord cutting has remained persistent in the United States with rising cable prices and viable alternatives in the marketplace, whether or not they are free ad-supported streaming television services notwithstanding. In fact, streaming comprises a preponderance of total day television consumption among persons age 2+ per the latest Nielsen Gauge Report.
The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is the only one of Charter’s current regional sports networks that has not agreed to the new terms of the deal. The broadcast home of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals contested a decision by the restructured Major League Baseball Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee regarding rights fees for the teams between 2012 and 2016.
The decision was ultimately upheld by a New York Court of Appeals, requiring MASN to pay approximately $100 million to each franchise, something it argued would jeopardize aggregate profitability. Terms for payments during the five-year periods of 2017-2021 and 2022-2026 have yet to be agreed upon. Charter has informed league executives and regional sports networks that the tiers will not be activated unless all of a market’s regional sports network agrees to the terms of the new deal.
Regional sports executives are trying to ensure they remain available on cable and satellite systems, but are also working on securing direct-to-consumer rights to launch a different means of subscription. Various networks have already launched products, including NESN, MSG Networks and Bally Sports, the latter of which is in an imbroglio against Major League Baseball amid its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
OutKick has announced that former All-American swimmer Riley Gaines will host a podcast for the company.
Gaines for Girls will debut on Wednesday, July 12th, and feature Gaines defending the role of biological females competing in women’s sports. Gaines rose to prominence after losing to transgender athlete Lia Thomas in the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. She has since advocated for changes to NCAA rules that allowed Thomas to compete and has become an outspoken voice against allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.
“I’m so excited to be partnering with Outkick to release my new podcast Gaines for Girls,” said Gaines. “The audience can expect open conversations from policy experts, world-renown scientists, elite athletes, and others who have been affected by the cultural issues plaguing America. OutKick is the ideal place to facilitate these conversations considering their understanding of sports and politics as well as their love for America and our freedoms. You can expect raw truth from Gaines for Girls!”
In addition to hosting the podcast, Gaines will also be a contributor on OutKick shows like Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich, OutKick Hot Mic with Chad Withrow and & Jonathan Hutton, and Tomi Lahren is Fearless.
“OutKick is the foremost defender of truth in sports media today. Men who identify as women winning championships is patently absurd and only woke idiots at ESPN will defend it,” said OutKick founder Clay Travis. “I’m proud of Riley’s bravery in standing up for women against this absurdity and excited to have her as a part of the OutKick family.”
Galaxy Media’s firing of Brent Axe earlier this year got a lot of attention across the sport media world. Sure, Syracuse is a breeding ground for big name talent in the industry, but the real curiosity came from a station owner saying publicly that he fired a popular host for being “too negative” about the home team.
Plenty was made of former Orange basketball coach Jim Boeheim’s stake in Galaxy Media at the time. It’s something that Axe told the WJPZ at 50 podcast that he cannot overlook.
“Look, I can’t prove that Jim Boeheim had me fired, JAG, but I will go to my grave believing it was done to appease him,” he said on an episode released Monday.
Axe was heard on ESPN Syracuse, a station owned by Galaxy Media. The day before his firing was announced, the station announced that Boeheim would be making more regular appearances on the station.
Galaxy Media CEO and President told Syracuse.com that he “had a problem with the content” of Axe’s show. Axe told JAG Gay, host of WJPZ at 50, that he was surprised Levine acknowledged that publicly.
“When Ed Levine talked on the record to Syracuse.com and the reasons for firing me, I mean, that is almost word for word what he said to me when it was an inquiry about Jim Boeheim that set him off with that.”
Axe says that Levine never directly said that Boeheim asked that he be fired, but it was easy for him to read between the lines of what was said.
“It’s announced on a Saturday he has more involvement in Galaxy Media. I get fired on a Sunday like, listen, I don’t think we have to go to a whole episode of Law & Order to figure out what went on here.”
What does the future hold for Dave Portnoy at Barstool Sports? He told Kirk Minihane earlier this year that it is as uncertain as it has ever been. Erika Ayers told The New York Post that she has no reason not to believe him.
“Dave was pretty honest in his conversation with Kirk,” she told Ryan Glasspiegel. “He’s an enormous talent. He built something extraordinary. I want him to be so happy. I would work with him for the rest of my life. I think he’s incredible.”
Portnoy publicly chided Penn Entertainment following the company’s decision to part ways with Ben Mintz. He has gone on multiple platforms to say that he did not think Mintz accidentally saying a racial slur on video while reading rap lyrics was a fireable offense, because it was clear to anyone that saw the video, that Mintz meant no harm and was immediately horrified by what had happened. He even cited the incident days later when Penn’s stock price dropped.
Dave Portnoy has since clarified his position. While he disagrees with Penn Entertainment’s decision, he is still happy to be working with the company and trusts the direction it has for Barstool.
Ayers says she appreciates Portnoy’s entrepreneurial spirit. She adds that makes it hard for her to figure out exactly what he will do next.
“Maybe he stays and does this. Maybe he doesn’t do anything. Maybe he goes on a beach. Maybe he does something else.”
The current contract between Barstool and Portnoy ends in 2025. While he has publicly said that he isn’t sure if the company wants to sign a new deal with him, Ayers says that Portnoy may have a little more say in the matter than he lets on.
“I think he’s got a little bit of time and is just kind of thinking through what that could look like,” she told Glasspiegel.
After a short six-month stint as 1190 iHeart Sports DC, iHeartMedia has returned the station to conservative talk with the launch of Freedom 104.7.
The station will feature a completely syndicated lineup of mostly shows from Premiere Networks.
The lineup will include: 6-9A: America’s First News with Matt Ray 9A-12P: The Glenn Beck Program 12-3P: The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show 3-6P: The Sean Hannity Show 6-9P: The Jesse Kelly Show 9P-12A: Our American Stories with Lee Habeeb 12-6A: Coast-to-Coast AM with George Noory
Previously, only The Sean Hannity Show was heard in the nation’s capital, airing on Salem Media Group’s 570 The Answer.
“We are excited to welcome Sean, Glenn, Clay & Buck, and a number of best-in-class personalities to Freedom 104.7,” said iHeartMedia Senior Vice President of Programming Jeff Kapugi. “We are confident that Freedom 104.7 will quickly become a favorite destination for DMV talk radio listeners.”
The station is broadcasting on W284CQ with 99 watts of power, which encompasses most of the area inside the Beltway.
Former CNN reporter Saima Mohsin has filed a lawsuit against the cable outlet. In the suit, she alleges she was subject to racial discrimination and unfair dismissal.
While reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in 2014, Mohsin was left disabled after an accident. Her cameraman allegedly ran over her foot with a car, causing tissue damage. As a result, she struggles to sit, stand, and walk, and has yet to return to full-time work.
She claims she asked the network to move from a reporter role to the anchor desk, but was told “You don’t have the look we are looking for”. Her contract was later terminated.
In the lawsuit, she alleges she was denied high-profile opportunities with CNN due to her Pakistani-British heritage. She claims white American correspondents were given assignments despite her proximity to stories that needed to be covered.
“I’m also taking the opportunity to highlight the racism and gender pay gap issues that I experienced. I was repeatedly let down and denied the ability to achieve my potential while I was at CNN,” Mohsin said. “I am bringing my claim to take a stand and call for change to ensure women journalists, and women journalists of colour, are better protected”.
CNN has declined to comment on the allegations but has opposed the lawsuit, saying Mohsin’s contract shows she does not have the right to sue the outlet in the United Kingdom.
Since her exit from CNN, Mohsin has worked at Sky News on a freelance basis.
KFRU 1400 AM and 98.9 FM in Columbia, Missouri is set to debut a new afternoon show called Columbia Today.
The new program — which will air weekdays from 4:00-6:00 PM — will be hosted by former Missouri State Representative Ted Farnen.
“For nearly 100 years, KFRU has been Columbia’s best source for news and entertainment, and the station has a deep commitment to keeping the public informed, The debut of ‘Columbia Today’ and the recent investments by Cumulus Media in studio renovations and the news department demonstrate that KFRU will continue to be an important voice in Columbia’s conversations,” said Farnen.
“This will be a fun and informative show with a heavy concentration on local issues and guests. It will be a program to which everyone will be welcome, and it will complement the outstanding local programming KFRU already provides.”
Farnen has lived in the Columbia area for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s prestigious School of Journalism.
“We are thrilled to have Ted join our team,” KFRU Program Director Luke Swezy said. “He brings a valuable and informed perspective on local issues that will strengthen our programming.”
“We are excited to have Ted join our KFRU line-up in the afternoons. He brings experience and a local perspective that we believe will resonate well with the listeners of KFRU,” added Cumulus Columbia Vice President and Market Manager Greg Renoe.
Fox News is slated to kick off a new marketing campaign touting its revamped primetime lineup.
“The right voices at the right time,” is how the cable outlet will brand the lineup consisting of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld.
The new primetime lineup is unique in that it features almost an entirely new schedule, but is built on familiar personalities to Fox News viewers. Hannity was the only program that remained in its previous timeslot, with Laura Ingraham and Greg Gutfeld moving up to earlier timeslots.
Watters is slotting into the window previously occupied by Tucker Carlson, who was unceremoniously fired in April.
Both Gutfeld and Watters saw their profiles grow as panelists on The Five. The show has grown to be the highest-rated program on the network. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, both Gutfeld and Watters will remain as panelists on The Five for the time being.
The newly revamped lineup will debut on Monday, July 17th.
The investigation regarding the discovery of cocaine in the White House West Wing is ongoing. Chris Plante, a syndicated radio host, criticized the mainstream media for neglecting to report on the controversies surrounding President Joe Biden.
On Friday, the host of The Chris Plante Show expressed his opinion that the press is struggling to obtain clear answers from the administration regarding the investigation into the individual who brought drugs to the White House.
“A couple of reporters actually shouted questions at him (Joe Biden), but he just sat there weirdly smirking because he knows there is no accountability for him in Washington,” said Plante.
According to Plante, White House staff are interrupting reporters and shouting over their questions before they can be fully asked.
“The junior people in the White House Press Office shout over the reporters, shout them down while telling them to get out of the room,” he said. “Because we’re becoming more and more like the Soviet Union every day.”
Plante said it’s normal for the people in the press office to end press events after a certain amount of time, but in this case, Biden’s handlers were escorting reporters out after the first line of questions about the cocaine started.
“Normally, in an American White House, you let the press ask a couple of questions, maybe the president answers in some fashion or another. That doesn’t happen that much with Sleepy Joe [Biden]. They (handlers) shout them (reporters) down, cajole, and more or less shove them out of the room, and no questions were answered because of the Democrat party. They don’t answer a bunch of questions, and the press doesn’t care that much.”
The Pacific Northwest provides local sports teams with an advantage in its location, necessitating lengthy air travel from most other locales. Major League Baseball fans will turn their attention in that direction this week as the 2023 All-Star Game illuminates the “Emerald City” of Seattle.
Bringing the heart of the baseball universe to T-Mobile Park, the home of the Mariners, has been a process over two decades in the making. The city last hosted All-Star Week in 2001, the year in which the ballpark opened and when the M’s set the all-time record with 116 regular season wins. Seattle featured eight all-stars in that summer. Harold Reynolds was not one of them. The former Mariners second baseman had been retired from the game for seven years at that point, but understood what the occasion meant to the area.
When he was growing up five hours south in Eugene, Oregon, Reynolds became captivated with the sport and began playing himself. As a college baseball player at the University of San Diego, he took heed of the 1979 MLB All-Star Game from the Kingdome and aspired to be there himself one day and he did – twice.
In 2001, Reynolds was working with ESPN as a baseball analyst and covered the aforesaid All-Star Game, and he now returns with MLB Network.
“I went to Oregon first and then drove up here,” Reynolds said of his trip to the West Coast. “It takes me back to when I played here, but also I’m really proud to be somebody who grew up in the Northwest and this is our team. To see what Seattle has become and what they’re going to continue to do here is really cool.”
There is, perhaps, no better time for the All-Star Week to arrive in Seattle after the team snapped a vicennial postseason drought in 2021. The fans are right to think the team has a bright future again.
In 2009, MLB Network, a league-owned broadcast entity, launched adopting an all-baseball format. Reynolds was one of the first voices heard on its air.
“The foundation was laid so great,” Reynolds said of MLB Network. “It was going to be that we can talk about all 30 teams [with] the creativity of jumping in and out of games [through] live looks. Nobody was doing that in all of sports, and so that really was revolutionary.”
Reynolds has participated in nearly every studio program throughout his time at the network. This year, he is working with studio host Adnan Virk on the 6 p.m. EST edition of MLB Tonight and modified his preparatory process.
“When you do MLB Tonight [in] the late night, games are on and you’re jumping in and out of games,” Reynolds said. “The difference is being a little more scripted [and] having a plan of what we’re going to talk about – so it’s more set in our meetings than necessarily on the air.”
This past Friday, Reynolds embarked on a new challenge as a commentator on the inaugural HBCU Swingman Classic, presented by T-Mobile and powered by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation. Joining Reynolds in the broadcast booth was HBCU sports journalist Symone Stanley and the television play-by-play voice of the Mariners, Dave Sims. Seattle legend and Reynolds’s former teammate Ken Griffey Jr. also participated in the broadcast on the field, corresponding from the visiting and home dugouts.
“We are the spokesmen and ambassadors for the sport,” Reynolds said of MLB Network. “This is just another marking for us being able to show off, so to speak, our sport. When you can collaborate with Ken Griffey Jr. and he puts his name on something and Major League Baseball says, ‘Yeah, we’re in,’ and the Network gets to air it, that’s when we’re the best.”
Aligning with All-Star Week is the presentation of the MLB Draft from Lumen Field, the home of the Seattle Seahawks. This year’s iteration of the event, which took place on Sunday, marked the third time the draft is being held at All-Star Week.
Reynolds was selected by the Mariners with the second pick of the 1980 MLB Draft. Many of his MLB Network colleagues were also drafted and understand the importance of the event and yield mentorship to its players. A similar premise holds true at MLB Network when new personalities have been added to its on-air lineup and benefited from an environment of congeniality and collaboration.
“I always say that I didn’t think I would love to do my job and my second career as fast as I [have],” studio analyst and former first baseman Yonder Alonso said. “I’m so deep into it where it’s like I want to be great at it.”
Alonso played 10 seasons in the major leagues, primarily with the San Diego Padres, but he also had a stint with the Seattle Mariners in the second half of the 2017 season. Having starred with seven franchises, he became familiar with many of the athletes around the league and estimates he played either with or against 90% of the players he covers.
Since joining MLB Network in 2021, Alonso has honed his craft by adopting a similar approach to how he prepared to take the field. Before most broadcasts, he arrives promptly to watch games, conduct research, take notes and ask questions from his colleagues. When the lights turn on and the show goes live, he tries to deliver his analysis in an enjoyable manner while maintaining a perspicuous reverence for the game.
Every time he makes a contribution on the air, he keeps a 10-second clock in the back of his mind, a figure he ascertains is the amount of time he has to make an impression on a viewer before they turn the channel.
“At all times, I always feel like I have to be on to make sure that if I do get each of those 10 seconds, they’re always the best 10 seconds that you can watch or learn something from the game of baseball.”
On Monday morning, Alonso will utilize his relationships with active players and familiarity with the evolving nature of the sport on a special edition of MLB Tonight from All-Star Media Day. Throughout the afternoon, Alonso will interview a variety of perennial and first-time All-Stars. Later that day, he and Reynolds will be on the MLB Tonight set to interact with the All-Stars from inside T-Mobile Field.
“When you are on the road, it’s so much fun [and] it feels like a college game day,” Alonso said. “You kind of get your heart pumping, you’ve got the fans on top of you [and] you’ve got all the players [with] all the access…. It’s a whole event not only just for them, but it’s a celebration for a very good first half of the season that everybody has been involved with.”
A unique aspect of MLB All-Star Weekend is the annual Celebrity Softball Game, granting local and national luminaries a chance to step outside of their comfort zones and compete with former big leaguers. In this year’s event, WWE personality Michael “The Miz” Mizanin, actress JoJo Siwa and musician Yandel were among the competitors covered by MLB Network. Lauren Gardner and Robert Flores return as the commentary tandem after working together last year, and now have a more discernible idea of the nuances of the eccentric event.
“The key to covering it is to be completely in the moment and try and just be the ringleader in what is very much so a circus,” Gardner said, “but it’s the most entertaining one you’ll get to see all year long.”
Gardner was juggling a surfeit of jobs in the early stages of her career in sports media and now finds herself with a national outlet hosting her own afternoon show, Off Base. The program is geared towards younger fans, a group MLB seems intent on chasing.
Indeed, rule changes implemented before the start of the regular season have expedited the pace of play and proliferated offensive output while ameliorating average attendance figures. Yet an emphasis on the culture surrounding baseball has fueled part of the growth, akin to other professional sports, and bolstered the marketing potential of generational talents. Gardner’s cousin encapsulated the intent of the show when giving his feedback, and his words are etched into her memory.
“He said, ‘It was like watching [me] and my friends sitting around and discussing the things that we would typically discuss,’” Gardner recalled. “Oh by the way, you have the added value of former players and analysts in the mix so they can give a different perspective and that valuable insight, but doing it in a very fun and relaxed manner.”
From her time covering minor league hockey on the radio to cheerleading for the Denver Broncos and serving as an in-game host for the Colorado Rockies and Colorado Avalanche, Gardner gained invaluable perspectives of different industry niches. When she served as a local correspondent for NHL Network, Gardner saw an opportunity to grow and contacted the broadcast entity to see if she could do more. Following two auditions, she began hosting for DAZN, MLB Network and NHL Network – all based out of a joint broadcast facility in Secaucus, N.J. Over four years later, she has refined her craft and become even more versatile, rendering her adept to make the trip to Seattle.
“The more that I’m just myself, the better and the easier and the more you’re kind of just in flow with what’s happening,” Gardner explained. “[If] you put in the work and you’re as creative as possible and you try to be the best teammate you can be, it doesn’t matter what level you’re at. In baseball, they say, ‘You get called up, but the game doesn’t change.’”
Applying her ability to penetrate beyond solely discussing game action, Gardner will be on the red carpet ahead of the Midsummer Classic catching up with the All-Stars. Reynolds will also be on hand to provide his perspective as a former player, but both know the inherent value of the event comes in bringing out personalities and emphasizing clothing ensembles.
“Why does Francisco Lindor change his glove and his shoes every night?,” Reynolds posed. “Well, come to the red carpet and you get an understanding of his fashion sense and his personality.”
“I think fashion is such a beautiful form of self-expression and [finding out] why they chose to rock that look,” Gardner added. “It’s just so much fun [in] kind of letting them be the guide.”
Before they hit the diamond, the stars hit the All-Star Red Carpet!
Throughout the whirlwind of MLB All-Star Week, MLB Network and numerous other broadcast entities are producing unparalleled content to effectively cover the proceedings. Other professional sports leagues have followed the league’s paradigm and optimized their showcase to be more conducive for consumers in the 21st century. Despite never covering the National Hockey League All-Star Game, Gardner has watched it from afar and discussed it during studio coverage as an NHL Network host. She likens the NHL All-Star Skills Competition to the Home Run Derby, both of which celebrate particular aspects of the sport, and appreciates players wearing microphones and communicating directly with the broadcast booth in the course of gameplay.
FOX has the television broadcast rights for Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, marking its 24th broadcast of the landmark event. MLB Network, however, will present extensive pregame and postgame coverage on its flagship program, MLB Tonight. The network has annually had its analysts and camera operators roam the field in batting practice to conduct interviews with the players as they prepare for the game. Alonso, Pedro Martínez, Albert Pujols and Chris Young will be interacting with All-Stars, cultivating indelible moments by obtaining a firsthand look at their routine on the field. The advantage Alonso and Pujols have is in playing first base, a position where conversation abounds when runners find a way to reach.
“I love talking to the guys that can’t speak the language in English because a lot of these guys – they don’t get to talk that much so if I do have them in front of me, I always like to hear what their mindset is all about, especially in a moment like the All-Star Game [and] also just the festivities,” Alonso said. “I try to get the most out of the players.”
Reynolds remembers having a discussion with Los Angeles Angels stars Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani last year and talking about what it was like to be teammates. As they have assimilated into the network, Alonso and Gardner are building rapport with players and conducting unforgettable interviews and bringing fans compelling content.
“They want something that’s real and that’s relatable,” Gardner said. “It’s kind of funny – you can have all the training in the world as a broadcaster, and I think what I’ve found as I’ve become more and more successful is what resonates with people is that you kind of let any guard down and you’re just your most authentic self.”
Reynolds maintains his chemistry with players in the offseason on MLB Network’s morning program, Hot Stove, which he hosts with Matt Vasgersian. As time has progressed, Reynolds has established friendships with players and personnel from around the league while building a sense of trust. Additionally, he has been open to discussing the transition from playing to broadcasting with athletes, including Alonso, and guides those new on the job.
“Don’t feel like you need to start broadcasting right now,” Reynolds said he tells active players. “That’s going to take care of itself. You go play your sport. You have a small window of time. Do it, go enjoy it [and] broadcasting will be there later.”
As the National League tries to snap a nine-game losing streak in the annual exhibition contest, MLB Network will be on hand to mark the unofficial halfway point of the season. Leading up to the resumption of regular season play on Friday, programs recapping the best of the first half and previewing the second half of play and postseason pushes will take the air. In the present moment though, Reynolds, Alonso and Gardner are immersed in the action from the peripatetic nucleus of the sport.
