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Adam Silver: NBA Needs to ‘Reimagine’ Relationships With RSNs

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Questions persist about the future of the Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is cognizant that the situation isn’t close to being resolved.

However, Silver did say during an appearance at the SBJ World Congress of Sports last week that the business model has changed for both the regional sports networks and the league.

“There’s no doubt that — I’ll just say politely — we need to reimagine these relationships. There’s the specific issue in terms of Diamond with the debt they had and correcting that issue. Then in terms of the fundamentals of the business, everyone sees what’s happening in the television market. You’ve had a dramatic decline in the number of television homes. When you include the virtual distributors it’s not as low as many people think, there’s still 75 million homes receiving cable/satellite programming in the United States.”

Silver then shared that the league features a much younger audience than other professional leagues. He shared that the “numbers of the dropoff are dramatic. They’re not watching television the way an older generation was”.

The NBA Commissioner then said that the reason Diamond Sports Group was interested in launching a companion streaming platform alongside its linear television deals was to capture those younger fans who are not consuming games on cable like previous generations.

“That’s something that, as they’re trying to reimagine their business, part of it is to have a digital package to go alongside the linear package,” Silver concluded. “Those 75 million homes, even if they continue to drop down, are still going to be important for the mid-term future.”

News Media Reacts to Firing of Don Lemon

BNM Staff
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Less than an hour after an announcement from Fox News revealed Tucker Carslon would depart the network, Don Lemon claimed he was fired by CNN.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” Lemon said in the tweet. “I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.”

“CNN and Don have parted ways,” the network said in a statement. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

Similar to the reaction to Carlson’s departure, there was both celebration and surprise from news media personalities after Lemon’s exit was announced.

Tucker Carlson Exits Fox News

BNM Staff
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In a shocking development, Fox News has announced Tucker Carlson is departing the network, effective immediately.

According to a statement from Fox News, the network and the primetime host “have agreed to part ways”.

“We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the network said in a statement.

Carlson was at the center of a defamation lawsuit brought forth by Dominion Voting System. Evidence uncovered in the suit showed Carlson had privately shared his disgust for then-President Donald Trump. However, on the air, Carlson shared glowing remarks about the 45th President. Carlson scored the first televised interview with the former President after he was indicted earlier this month.

Dominion Voting Systems alleged that Carlson, along with other Fox News hosts like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Maria Bartiromo knowingly peddled falsehoods centered around the 2020 presidential election.

Fox News settled the case with Dominion for $787.5 million early last week.

However, a report from Los Angeles Times media reporter Stephen Battaglio claims Carlson was pushed out by Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, and was unrelated to the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit.

According to Battaglio, Murdoch was concerned about Carlson’s encapsulation of the January 6th Insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Fox News host was the beneficiary of more than 40,000 hours of security camera footage given to him by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In a subsequent story on the footage, Carlson called rioters “sightseers” and “mostly peaceful”.

Battaglio continued by saying the recent lawsuit brought for by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg also played into Carlson’s exit. Grossberg claimed she was bullied and subjected to anti-Semitic comments while working under Carlson.

Since joining the network as a primetime host in 2016, Carlson has routinely led the cable news ratings war between Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged more than 3 million viewers per episode.

The network says a rotating panel of Fox News personalities will host the 8:00 PM ET timeslot previously occupied by Carlson.

Carlson’s exit comes less than a week after another Fox News personality, Dan Bongino, announced his departure from the network. He claimed contract negotiations between himself and the network fell apart, and denied reports his exit was tied to the Dominion Voting Systems settlement.

Several reports also claim that Carlson’s executive producer, Justin Wells, has also departed the network.

Don Lemon Fired By CNN

BNM Staff
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According to a report from The New York Times, Don Lemon is exiting CNN.

“CNN and Don have parted ways,” the network said in a statement on Monday. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”

On Twitter, Lemon shared he was fired.

“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN,” Lemon said in the tweet. “I am stunned. After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.”

CNN has pushed back on Lemon’s claim that he was not told directly about his departure.

“Don Lemon’s statement about this morning’s events is inaccurate. He was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter,” a tweet from CNN’s PR department read.

Lemon was a fixture in the network’s primetime lineup before moving to the network’s new morning show, CNN This Morning, late last year. The program has struggled to gain viewers. However, the network says it remains “committed” to the show’s success.

The 57-year-old Lemon became embroiled in controversy earlier this year when he claimed 51-year-old Nikki Haley was “past her prime” after she announced her presidential campaign. Lemon was removed from CNN This Morning for two days after his comments. CNN CEO Chris Licht said he would undergo “formal training” after his comments.

After the strong reaction to Lemon’s comments, reports surfaced of behind-the-scenes tension with his CNN This Morning co-anchors Kaitlan Collins and Poppy Harlow.

A report from Variety claimed Lemon had been “diva-like” and disrespectful to female colleagues. In response, Lemon considered legal action against the publication.

News Media Reacts to Tucker Carlson’s Fox News Exit

BNM Staff
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Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson exited the network Monday, less than a week after the cable news giant agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million.

Tucker Carlson Tonight was routinely the highest-rated cable news program. The show averaged an audience of over 3 million for each episode.

Many news media personalities were shocked and dumbfounded by the development, while others celebrated Carlson’s downfall.

https://twitter.com/MichaelBerrySho/status/1650526304574291969?s=20

ESPN Layoffs Begin With Behind-the-Scenes Staff

BSM Staff
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ESPN Layoffs Begin With Behind-the-Scenes Staff

It is no secret that Disney is looking to shed some expenses. The company is expected to eliminate around 7000 employees in total through multiple rounds of layoffs. On Monday, pink slips began going out at ESPN.

The network is expected to eliminate jobs in three rounds. No on-air talent is expected to be let go this week. The layoffs are beginning with people behind the scenes.

Mike Soltys is out after 43 years in Bristol. He was the company’s second-longest tenured employee. He was originally hired by the network’s founder Bill Rassmussen.

“Since I came to Bristol in 1980 as an unpaid intern I’ve been full of gratitude for the front row seat I’ve had for a business success story like no other,” Soltys, the now-former VP of Corporate Communications, wrote in an email to his colleagues. “With ESPN retirement, I turn to thinking about the future and I am open to your ideas of new opportunities.”

CNBC reports that this week may see limited cuts at the Worldwide Leader. A report from Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman cites a source that says ESPN is expected to layoff less than 100 people this week.

Amanda Brown has departed after working with ESPN Radio stations since 2002. She began her career in Dallas before moving to Bristol to work as a national producer. She has worked at 710 ESPN LA since 2010, first as a producer before eventually ascending to the station’s Program Director in 2019.

Barrett Sports Media will continue updating this story as more details become available.

Ryan Maguire Joining Westwood One As VP of Sports Affiliate Sales

BSM Staff
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Ryan Maguire Joining Westwood One As VP of Sports Affiliate Sales

Ryan Maguire is joining Westwood One as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for Sports.

The move was announced Monday morning, with Maguire sharing his excitement to join the network.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Westwood One Sports. They have long established themselves as best-in-class content curators and syndicators,” said Maguire. “I’m excited to team with our affiliate stations and partners to help them achieve success utilizing our many assets.”

Maguire joins Westwood One after a nearly two-year stint leading ESPN Milwaukee and 620 WTMJ for Good Karma Brands in Milwaukee. A former Barrett Sports Media columnist, he has spent more than two decades leading sports radio stations in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Milwaukee, among others. He was also previously the Executive Producer of the Chicago White Sox Radio Network.

In his new role, Maguire will oversee the distribution and marketing of all of Westwood One’s sports programming. The expansive list includes the NFL, NCAA Tournament, and college football, as well as CBS Sports Radio and the BetQL Network.

Chris Stigall: There’s ‘Something Weird Still Going On’ at Twitter

BNM Staff
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Last week, Twitter removed the blue checkmark verification badges given to “legacy” accounts on the platform. Conservative radio host Chris Stigall said that the move was a good one, but claimed there was still some funny business going on inside the walls of Twitter.

The Christ Stigall Show host claimed that his follower count rarely fluctuates, and finds it difficult to believe he isn’t gaining followers throughout the year.

“If I pick up 10 followers today, I’ll go back tomorrow and check, all 10 have disappeared,” he said. “My account has been held at one spot for the year or so after Donald Trump was held off the platform. It flatlined. Stopped growing. After organic growth over 10 years, it just stopped growing. Then Elon (Musk) bought it, and for a short, brief time, it started to tick up again. Now we’re right back to flatline. Zero growth…it never moves from the same spot. So if you were to watch my Twitter account move over the next month, you should probably get a hobby, but if that’s what you were doing, you would notice today it says there are 48,000-something followers, and that probably will not have moved, in a month, from that spot.

“There’s something weird still going on inside Twitter,” Stigall said. “If I’m paying $8 a month, I feel like I should be able to call up and go ‘What’s going on? What’s the deal with my account?’, right?”

Stigall added that he believes there’s a system in place to continue to limit the reach of conservative voices on the platform.

“It’s just amazing how my Instagram account has started to grow,” Stigall said after pointing out that his digital team has started to boost his videos on the platform. “It’s not something I even wanted to do, dragging me reluctantly into 2023. They’re like ‘Just try it’. It’s amazing! If you pay Facebook, or you pay Instagram, ‘Hey, look! It’s Chris Stigall!’.”

ESPN VP Seth Markman: ‘The NFL Draft is Our Event’

BSM Staff
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ESPN VP Seth Markman: ‘The NFL Draft is Our Event’

The NFL Draft may be on three different networks this year, but only ESPN can claim to have a history with the event that turned it into what it is today.

“We don’t usually like to brag about things,” ESPN Vice President of Production Seth Markman told The Athletic. “But this is one event that we feel like we created, we’ve innovated along the way, and we’ve been in lockstep with the NFL every year on how to make this bigger and better.”

This will be the fifth year that ABC and NFL Network will have their own presentations of the Draft. Markman didn’t say how his unit feels about the competition for eyeballs, but he did say that in the past, ESPN employees have been territorial about the event.

“It’s one of the few events that I would say is in the DNA of ESPN. A few years back, FOX was involved as well, and I’ll be honest with you, it pissed people off here. It was one of the few things that we were like, ‘No, no, no, no, we do the NFL Drafts. That’s our event.’”

As a week of programming, the NFL Draft delivers for ESPN in a way that few other sporting events do. Markman notes that while the Super Bowl itself is huge, it does not tend to generate the kind of viewership for the week leading up to the game that the Draft does.

Everyone has a theory about why that is. Markman says it is about hope. Mel Kiper Jr. says it is about anticipation. Phil Simms of CBS told Front Office Sports that it is actually about Kiper.

“I want to hear Mel Kiper. I’m not going there to hear eight other guys,” he said. “I want to hear Mel Kiper’s take — because this is what he does year-round.”

He added that the other theories do hold water. There is also the fantasy GM angle of second-guessing what each team should do, but Simms’s praise of Kiper is evidence that ESPN is truly engrained in the NFL Draft. The event isn’t just in the network’s DNA. ESPN is in the DNA of the NFL Draft, too.

NPR ‘Government-Funded Media’ Twitter Label Removed

BNM Staff
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Twitter has removed a label from NPR and other broadcast entities that tagged them as “government-funded media”.

Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform, reportedly emailed companies tagged with the distinction directly to alert them of the decision to remove the label.

The “government-funded media” distinction was created after Musk tagged NPR with a “state-affiliated media” label. The organization strongly pushed back against the characterization, pointing to Twitter’s own guidelines that said outlets like NPR and the BBC weren’t given the label due to their editorial independence. Twitter subsequently altered its guidelines to remove NPR from that statement.

Musk eventually walked back the changes. He said the “state-affiliated media” label “seemed accurate” in a tweet, before making the adjustment. However, after an interview with the BBC, he said the moniker would be changed to “publicly-funded media”. NPR maintains less than 1% of its annual budget comes from public funding.

In an announcement on Wednesday, April 12th, NPR said it would cease utilizing the social media platform as a distribution tool for its content. The outlet said it would institute a two-week grace period for staffers that operate the social media channels to figure out the next steps.

“At this point, I have lost my faith in the decision-making at Twitter,” NPR CEO John Lansing said. “I would need some time to understand whether Twitter can be trusted again.

“It would be a disservice to the serious work you all do here to continue to share it on a platform that is associating the federal charter for public media with an abandoning of editorial independence or standards,” Lansing continued.

Several other public radio stations joined NPR in its boycott of Twitter.

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