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Rachel Bonnetta Out at NFL Network

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Rachel Bonnetta joins Jim Trotter on the list of NFL Network talent that is now looking for a new gig. Bonnetta has been let go as part of NFL Media’s cost-cutting efforts according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.

Bonnetta joined NFL Network two years ago and had seen her profile rise. She was a significant part of the network’s Super Bowl coverage this year.

She came to NFL Network from FS1. For five years, FOX used Bonnetta in a variety of roles, including as part of Lock It In, the precursor to FOX Bet Live.

There was one more year left on Rachel Bonnetta’s current deal. Marchand reports the network bought her out. Neither Bonnetta nor NFL Media responded to Marchand’s request for comment.

Rob Parker Bringing MLBBro.com Podcast To iHeartRadio

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Rob Parker loves Major League Baseball and he is expanding his reach in the sport. His site MLBBro.com is taking another step forward just weeks after announcing a partnership with the league to provide coverage of minority players from the past and present.

He will add a podcast to the brand’s portfolio. The MLBBro Show Podcast – The Mixtape will join the iHeartRadio podcast lineup. While Parker oversees the brand, the show will be led by MLBbro.com’s Vice President of Operations JR Gamble.

Gamble brings more than two decades of experience covering the league to the show. The first episode drops right after Opening Day on March 31.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this groundbreaking project – this sound has never been heard before in connection with Major League Baseball,” said Parker, who has been a Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) member since 1990.

“It’s baseball coverage with hot sauce, loud and proud and in living color. Get on board from day one!”

Prime Video Home to 20 New York Yankees Broadcasts in 2023

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Amazon and the New York Yankees today announced that 20 regular season broadcasts would air exclusively on Prime Video.

Yankees television voice Michael Kay will continue his work as the broadcast’s play-by-play announcer. 2023 marks Kay’s 32nd season with the club. He will be joined by analysts David Cone, Paul O’Neil, John Flaherty, and Jeff Nelson throughout the year.

Most broadcasts will air on Wednesdays in 2023. Most of the broadcasts previously airing on Prime Video aired on Fridays.

Games airing on Prime Video will be equipped with Amazon’s X-Ray technology, giving viewers live in-game stats, and real-time information for viewers on Android and Apple devices.

The 2023 New York Yankees on Prime Video schedule includes:
Tuesday, April 4 vs. Philadelphia Phillies – 7:00pm
Wednesday, April 19 vs. Los Angeles Angels – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, May 3 vs. Cleveland Guardians – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, May 17 vs. Toronto Blue Jays – 7:00pm  
Wednesday, May 24 vs. Baltimore Orioles – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, June 21 vs. Seattle Mariners – 7:00pm
Friday, June 30 vs. St. Louis Cardinals – 8:00pm 
Wednesday, July 5 vs. Baltimore Orioles – 7:00pm 
Saturday, July 8 vs. Chicago Cubs – 1:00pm 
Wednesday, July 19 vs. Los Angeles Angels – 7:00pm
Wednesday, August 2 vs. Tampa Bay Rays – 7:00pm 
Friday, August 4 vs. Houston Astros – 7:00pm
Wednesday, August 16 vs. Atlanta Braves – 7:00pm 
Friday, August 18 vs. Boston Red Sox – 7:00pm 
Sunday, August 20 vs. Boston Red Sox – 1:30pm
Friday, September 1 vs. Houston Astros – 8:00pm
Monday, September 11 vs. Boston Red Sox – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, September 13 vs. Boston Red Sox – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, September 20 vs. Toronto Blue Jays – 7:00pm 
Wednesday, September 27 vs. Toronto Blue Jays – 7:00pm 

Games scheduled to air on Prime Video will be available to MLB.tv subscribers who live outside the team’s geographic market, which encompasses New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and portions of Pennsylvania.

Sweet 16 Ratings Up For TBS, Down For CBS

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In one of the more unpredictable March Madness brackets ever seen, the television ratings for the Sweet 16 mimicked the action on the court for TBS and CBS.

The news is mostly positive for TBS. Thursday’s broadcast of Kansas State/Michigan State average 5.92 million viewers, up 88% compared the Villanova/Michigan broadcast in the same window a year prior. That number also represents the largest Sweet 16 audience for the network since 2015, excluding the 2021 Tournament that saw standalone windows for each broadcast.

Florida Atlantic’s win over Tennessee drew 3.97 million, a 68% uptick compared to the same window for TBS.

Friday’s broadcast of San Diego State’s win over Alabama and Princeton’s loss to Creighton averaged 4.51 million and 4.37 million respectively, a 71% increase compared to 2022.

However, the picture wasn’t as rosy for CBS. 6.13 million tuned into Gonzaga’s win over UCLA Thursday, but that figure represented a 25% decrease compared to last year’s Texas Tech/Duke broadcast. Similarly, the network’s coverage of UConn/Arkansas saw 4.26 million viewers, a drop of 48% compared to Arkansas/Gonzaga in 2022.

Friday’s broadcasts didn’t fare much better for CBS, as the network’s coverage of Miami’s upset win over Houston drew 5.51 million viewers. 4.81 million watched Texas defeat Xavier. Both telecasts saw a drop of at least 40% compared to similar games during the 2022 tournament.

The news of the mixed bag television ratings comes on the heels of record high viewership for the round of 64. Those broadcasts averaged 9.2 million viewers across CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV, and the March Madness Live streaming platform.

Jim Trotter: NFL Media Claims on Newsroom Diversity ‘Banana in the Tailpipe’

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Yesterday, Jim Trotter announced he was entering his final week at NFL Network and NFL.com. Trotter’s exit comes after he openly questioned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on the league’s lack of diversity inside the NFL Media newsroom.

On Tuesday, Trotter took to Twitter to criticize a recent statement by the league to The New York Post that 58% of new full-time hires at NFL Media were people of color, with the three most recent executives hired by the organization fitting that description.

Trotter responded on Twitter by asking “How many Black senior managers are in the newsroom?” and “How many full-time Blacks are on the news desk?”, while simultaneously answering each question with “(0)”.

The exiting columnist then added “Please don’t fall for the banana in the tailpipe. In a league that says its player population is 60-70% Black, these men deserve to have someone with similar cultural and life experiences at the table when decisions are being made about how they will be covered. Seems appropriate”.

Trotter joined NFL Media in 2018, working for both NFL Network and NFL.com, after working at ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and The San Diego Union-Tribune.

He brought attention to the lack of diversity in the league’s media entity during Roger Goodell’s yearly address on the status of the league at the Super Bowl, and defended his actions by stating it wasn’t a “gotcha” moment against the Commissioner.

“I felt that it was important to ask him in that situation because it’s not something I haven’t brought up internally over the course of the last year with the powers that be at the media group,” Trotter told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch at the time.

“All I’m asking is that the league’s actions reflect their words. And to this point that’s not what we have. And I believe that it is critically important for there to be Black representation in senior management in the newsroom based on the fact that we cover a player population – again according to league data – that is 60-70% Black.”

Audacy Plans Reverse Stock Split to Remain on NYSE

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Audacy has been facing a potential delisting of its stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and the company has devised a plan to return its price to a compliant status with the exchange.

In a regulatory filing, Audacy shared it intends to implement a reverse stock split after its shareholder’s meeting on Wednesday, May 24th.

The New York Stock Exchange requires companies to maintain an average closing price of at least $1.00 for 30 consecutive days of trading. Audacy’s price hasn’t closed above that threshold since July 5th of last year.

The exchange does grant grace periods, and the company was given until February 1st to return to compliance. However, as of Monday, the stock price closed at 11 cents per share.

“While price of our common stock might meet the continued listing requirements for the NYSE initially, it cannot be assured that it will continue to do so,” Audacy admitted in the filing.

Audacy also claimed that implementing a reverse stock split could potentially make it more difficult for investors to buy and sell their shares.

A reverse stock split could also be a risky endeavor. Should Audacy’s market cap fall below $15 million during 30 consecutive days of trading, the NYSE could still delist the company. With the move, there would be “no guarantee that we will be in compliance with these financial criteria requirements in future periods.”

Last August, a report surfaced that Audacy would enter bankruptcy proceedings with its potential delisting looming, which the company strongly denied at the time.

“That statement is categorically and unequivocally untrue,” Audacy President and CEO David Field said in an internal memo obtained by Barrett News Media at the time. “Audacy intends to pursue all applicable remedies for false and defamatory statements meant to cause damage to Audacy, its employees, and its stakeholders to the fullest extent of the law.”

In the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, Audacy saw a 0.8% decline in revenue, but still concluded 2022 with a 3% increase.

What Implications Would TikTok Ban Have on Sports Media & Business?

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If TikTok is banned in the United States, a very realistic possibility, the ad market around sports and sports media stands to take a significant hit. Front Office Sports took a look at the companies that used the social video platform to advertise to sports audiences in 2022 and 2023.

Among the advertisers making major investments in TikTok was Degree, whose March Madness advertising campaign includes an ad that is exclusive to TikTok and stars Giannis Antetokounmpo. For the Super Bowl, T-Mobile supplemented its FOX ad buy with a TikTok campaign, while State Farm chose to skip the network broadcast of the game and spend all of its advertising with the digital platform.

It’s not only advertisers. Leagues and networks factor TikTok prominently into reaching younger audiences. The WWE, FIFA and the NBA all saw significant growth in their audiences on the app last year. On top of that, FOX and ESPN both have taken advertising money from TikTok in the past for postseason baseball and college football broadcasts respectively.

Prominent Democrats have spoken out against banning TikTok in the United States, but the effort has bipartisan support. The Biden administration and other lawmakers have voiced concern about the security threat the Chinese government’s involvement with the app poses to Americans and their personal data.

The appeal of TikTok for networks and advertisers is easy to see. Between 2021 and 2022, no social media platform showed more growth for engagement from sports fans. TikTok’s sports audience jumped 65% in that timeframe. Facebook saw 22% growth and for Twitter, it was just 8%.

Tomi Lahren: Will Media Ignore Nashville Shooter Due to Gender Identity?

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Yesterday, a 28-year-old opened fire in a Nashville elementary school, killing three adults and three children under the age of 10 before ending their own life. OutKick’s Tomi Lahren questioned if the events will be covered like other mass shootings due to the shooter’s gender identity.

The shooter was born a female, but identified as a male, and reportedly left behind documentation about their gender causing mental problems.

During her Fox News Commentary Tuesday, Lahren suggested that the media would be hesitant to cover the tragedy because it wouldn’t fit the narrative of usual school shooting suspects.

“We have yet to be given a motive but the Democrats are already screaming for gun control,” Lahren said. “But what about mental health and specifically the mental illness and body dysmorphia that is associated with trans gender-affirming propaganda? Will the Democrats and mainstream media acknowledge this potential factor or ignore it as it’s not politically convenient for their purposes?”

As of publication, the Nashville shooting is on the homepage of The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, NewsNation, and Newsmax.

Lahren suggested the mental health of young Americans has been affected by the result of policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and social media usage, among other issues.

Peacock Adding Livestreams of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, CNBC’s Squawk Box

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Peacock is bolstering its streaming offerings with the addition of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and CNBC’s Squawk Box.

The streaming platform from NBCUniversal is adding a “Morning News Live” section that will be prominently displayed on the outlet’s landing page and incorporates the two morning cable news programs into offerings that include Today All Day, and local news from NBC owned and operated stations throughout the country, as well as the free NBC News Now streaming channel.

Morning Joe airs from 6:00-10:00 AM ET on MSNBC, and returns to airing live on Peacock after MSNBC’s previous streaming platform — The Choice — was folded into a plan for Peacock’s premium tier when it debuted. The program, hosted by former U.S. Representative Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, routinely finishes in second place in the cable news morning show ratings behind Fox News’ Fox & Friends.

Squawk Box aires from 6:00-9:00 AM ET on CNBC, and like Morning Joe, had only previously been available on the streaming platform on-demand after the episode had already aired live. The show is hosted by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin, and labels itself as the “ultimate pre-market morning news and talk program”.

Vladimir Duthiers Promoted to ‘Featured Host’ of CBS Mornings

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CBS News Live host Vladimir Duthiers has been promoted to “featured host” of CBS Mornings, the network has annoucned.

After serving as the show’s lead correspondent since 2019, Duthiers will now join hosts Gayle King, Nate Burleson, and Tony Dokoupil in a more prominent role. CBS News President Neeraj Khemlani said the position means “there will be more of Vlad on CBS Mornings“, adding that he will “tell more business, arts, and culture stories. And there will be more Vlad on Talk of the Table”, a recurring segment on the show.

“With fatherhood and now this solidifying of my role on the morning show, my head is spinning,” Duthiers told Variety.

Duthiers joined CBS News in 2014 as an anchor for the network’s CBSN streaming service. He came to CBS after spending five years at CNN as an international correspondent based out of Nigeria.

In an internal memo, Khemlani credits Duthiers for his work on the program, adding that CBS Mornings has experienced a 3% increase in viewers from the women 25-54 demographic over the course of the last year in the Nielsen ratings.