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Michael Kay Contemplating Ending His Radio Show

BSM Staff
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According to a report from Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, 98.7 ESPN New York afternoon host Michael Kay is “seriously considering” leaving his radio show.

Marchand reports Kay has privately shared with ESPN executives that at the conclusion of his current contract — which expires in September — he expects to walk away.

Kay, who recently celebrated the show’s 20th anniversary on the air, also serves as the television play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees on YES Network.

In addition to his work with YES Network, Kay has fostered a relationship with ESPN that has seen his profile grow to include the KayRod Cast — a Manningcast style alternate broadcast — for Sunday Night Baseball with former New York Yankee Alex Rodgriguez. Kay also served as the play-by-play announcer for a MLB playoff series on ESPN in 2022.

98.7 ESPN New York recently launched a more locally-focused lineup of DiPietro & Rothenburg in morning drive, while shifting ESPN Radio’s national midday show Bart & Hahn to a strictly New York-focused show, alongside Kay’s afternoon program.

Doug Gottlieb: Why is FOX So Protective of Skip Bayless?

BSM Staff
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Skip Bayless has defended his actions after a tweet he sent during the Damar Hamlin situation Monday evening created tremendous pushback. On Wednesday, FOX Sports Radio host Doug Gottlieb had strong pushback to Bayless “doubling down” on his tweet during the opening of Undisputed with Shannon Sharpe.

Bayless made the claim no one at FOX Sports had a problem with his tweet, which Gottlieb found preposterous.

“In what world does he think no one had a problem with it?,” Gottlieb said during his In The Bonus podcast. “The person sitting across the desk from him had a problem with it…I’ve reached the ‘I don’t give a f— moment’ of my time here at FOX Sports Radio.”

Gottlieb then brought up an example of a time he disagreed with Bayless and his opinion that the Golden State Warriors were better without Kevin Durant.

“I just said ‘The idiocy of this has to stop’. We played Skip’s sound of him saying it, but I did not direct any of my commentary personally at Skip, it was the idea that we hear this narrative that we hear on radio and see on TV…all I said was something after a clip of Skip. We have a guy — I won’t name him — his job is taking the clips from radio, packaging them, and putting them on social media. And what he put on social media was just that. But he had a picture of Skip.

“So people (at FOX Sports) search Twitter for Skip and they see ‘Gottlieb’s talking shit about Skip. You need to take this down’…so I asked ‘Why are we so protective of Skip Bayless?’ He’s made this portion of his career about strong opinions, and I vehemently disagree with his opinion, but I didn’t even say his name. I said the idiocy of this narrative. So this is me calling bullshit on the ‘no one had a problem…’, are you f—ing kidding me? Yesterday, you went on TV and did a 180 on Lebron James and act like no one was effected? Get the f— out of here.

“But it’s equally bullshit for Shannon to not to the show yesterday. You are the voice. That’s your job. To go ‘No Skip, you’re wrong. No matter what you put in the last sentence, the first three sentences lack empathy. Kid’s laying there, fighting for his life. And you’re concerned about playoff seedings? Get the f— out of here! Have a heart!’ That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s the beauty of that show!”

Gottlieb mentioned he has no relationship with either of his FOX Sports colleagues, noting “we’re not friends, we’re not enemies, I just don’t have any relationship” with either of the Undisputed hosts. He also added he believes Bayless’ reputation played a role in the reaction to his tweet, and believes the longtime pundit frankly lacks empathy.

“This is how Skip’s brain works. He’s very matter of fact. It’s almost Asperger’s-like. He lacks empathy..I think one of the hard parts about being somebody with strong opinions is you do have to cut through the emotions and get to what’s really going on.”

1190 iHeartSports DC Launches in Washington DC

BSM Staff
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1190 iHeartSports DC Launches in Washington DC

iHeartMedia has announced the launch of a new sports radio station in the market, 1190 iHeartSports DC.

1190 WCRW was recently added to the iHeart group in the nation’s capital, as the conglomerate struck a local marketing agreement with Potomac Radio Group late last week. With the LMA, iHeartMedia changed the station’s call letters to WTSD.

“We are excited to announce the launch of 1190 iHeartSports DC,” said iHeartMedia Region President Aaron Hyland. “We are thrilled to deliver this incredible lineup of the biggest names in sports talk audio to the DMV including exclusive Washington Commanders content utilizing 1190 AM, 104.7 FM and 101.1 HD2 and iHeartMedia’s unmatched scale and reach.”

iHeartMedia DC currently holds the media rights for the NFL franchise and airs live game broadcasts on classic rock station Big 100.3. No further details about what exclusive content from the Commanders would air on the newly formed station.

The station will feature the entire FOX Sports Radio lineup from 6:00 AM-5:00 PM before airing VSiN content for the remainder of the day. Sports betting content will also air on the station from 5:00 PM Friday evenings through 6:00 AM Monday mornings.

“Teaming up with iHeart again to deliver sports betting content to local radio audiences was a no-brainer, and we look forward to educating and informing sports bettors and fans in this top 10 media market,” said VSiN Founder and CEO Brian Musburger. “Bringing VSiN’s unique brand of sports wagering content to the D.C. area further expands our distribution footprint and solidifies our position as the nation’s largest sports betting network.”

1190 iHeartSports DC launches will a Class B signal of 50,000 watts of daytime power, which reduces to 1,200 watts at night.

Jimmy Failla Reacts To Don Lemon’s New Year’s Eve Blunder

BNM Staff
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Fox News host Jimmy Failla reacted to CNN’s New Year’s Eve blunder in which host Don Lemon missed the countdown to the ball drop. It appeared that Lemon lost track of time and was off by about 19 seconds as bystanders celebrated the beginning of 2023. 

The comedian-turned-broadcaster exposed the embarrassing moment during an appearance on the “Ingraham Angle” Tuesday night. 

“That’s how we start! Are you all ready for this countdown!” Don told the crowd after 2023 had arrived.

“This is like the groundhog forgetting to come out of its hole,” said Failla. “Dude, New Year’s Eve is all about the countdown.” 

“What’s 19 seconds? It’s only a countdown,” added Ingraham. 

Last year, CNN came under fire when hosts Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper were drinking on the air. Cohen made a derogatory statement about “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

“CNN has been dropping the ball all year long,” Failla said jokingly.

Jason Whitlock: Big Pharma Influences Free Speech on All Platforms

BNM Staff
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Blaze TV host Jason Whitlock said he’s willing to pay the price for talking about the possible ramifications of the COVID vaccine as it relates to the cardiac arrest of Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin. 

According to Fox News Digital, Hamlin has shown “signs of improvement” since he was rushed to the hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest during Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

“My reluctance to ponder the possibility that the vaccines the NFL promoted contributed to Hamlin’s cardiac arrest is starting to dissipate,” Whitlock said during his “Fearless” podcast Tuesday. “If you can go on CNN and blame football for something that is almost impossible to blame this on football, why not ponder the impact of the so-called clog shot?” 

Whitlock said that we’ve seen from the Twitter Files that Big Tech shadow-banned people that questioned the efficacy of the shots. 

“YouTube discourages its users from negatively discussing the shot,” Whitlock said. “Big Pharma greatly influences what we can and cannot say on all platforms.” 

Whitlock added that the pharmaceutical industry’s commercials finance the NFL and other sports leagues. 

“Roger Goodell would rather have football blamed for Hamlin’s collapse than have football viewers second guess their fifth booster,” he said. “I don’t know that this is vaccine related but I do think enough time has passed that it’s fair to have that discussion.”

Ben Shapiro: 60 Minutes Interviewed a Doomsday Scientist Who is Always Wrong

BNM Staff
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News magazine show “60 Minutes” is under criticism for an interview it conducted last weekend with a doomsday scientist who has an alleged track record of making false apocalyptic predictions.  

Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro said Tuesday that Paul Ehrlich, a Stanford biologist, has zero credibility when it comes to predicting end-of-life events. Shapiro stated that “60 Minutes” most likely knew what it was getting into with Ehrlich but chose to ignore his pattern of misinforming the public.

“60 Minutes featured him (Ehrlich) talking about how we are about to reach the end of civilization. This is the equivalent of ESPN having a sports handicapper who’s gotten wrong every single game that he has ever picked on the air,” said Shapiro. 

Shapiro said “60 Minutes” was likely motivated by the need to sell a doom and gloom story. 

“They are having him on because you need the wisdom and the old visage of a pseudo-scientist to tell you doom is coming unless you engage in the socialistic redistribution programs that the left loves,” he said. 

Shapiro said Ehrlich has been advocating for population control for decades. Ehrlich authored a book called The Population Bomb. Written in the late 1960s, Ehrlich predicted that billions of people would die in the 1970s and 1980s of starvation. 

“The wisdom of Paul Ehrlich has been disproven over and over in a single generation,” added Shapiro.

How Much Time Should The Sunday Shows Devote To Damar Hamlin?

Demetri Ravanos
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How Much Time Should The Sunday Shows Devote To Damar Hamlin?

Damar Hamlin has been on the minds of the entire nation this week. Why shouldn’t he be? The scene in Cincinnati as he suffered a cardiac arrest on the field felt like the first thing we have experienced as a nation in real-time in ages. Tuesday, the incident and his health are all any show talked about. By Wednesday, some shows began talking about the biggest storylines with their local teams. What will we see by Sunday?

I fully expect that Hamlin will get some spotlight, but time, as the saying goes, waits for no man. If the NFL really does play its full, scheduled slate on Sunday, how can CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC or NFL Network devote a full show to the topic? They will all have a job to do.

What is reasonable to expect? Well, that largely depends. What story is there to tell?

As I write this, things seem to be going positively for Hamlin, all things considered. The amount of oxygen that he is receiving is dropping, but he is still in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. He isn’t conscious. If that is still the case come Sunday, what stories make sense to tell?

Certainly, producers have been racing to book some or all of the first responders that were part of the life-saving effort on Monday night. I would imagine the spokesman for Damar Hamlin’s family will be on one show (probably more than one). There will be package pieces about the outpouring of support to Hamlin’s charity toy drive and about his story of making it onto an NFL roster.

The NFL office in New York will want a presence I am sure. I would be shocked if Roger Goodell doesn’t make time to go on each show. There will likely be conversations with the people in charge of innovation and player safety.

Maybe we will see some tougher questions asked. Will any network be bold enough to talk about the things Garrett Bush covered in his impassioned rant on The Ultimate Cleveland Sports Show this week? Bush took the league to task for rolling back the already paltry payments the league makes for player insurance and pension and painted a disheartening picture of the support Hamlin will need that likely won’t exist.

If there is no major change in Hamlin’s status in the ICU, those are all viable ways to talk about him and the incident beyond what we know will happen, which is former players and coaches reflecting on the fact that each week, we ask these guys to put their lives on the line to entertain us. The networks will likely also make room for a health expert, maybe more than one.

There are good, meaningful conversations to be had and those Sunday pregame shows are the ideal forum. I would imagine the multi-hour shows would make Damar Hamlin an hourly or semi-hourly focus. It is worthy of attention, but if we are playing football, so is the football.

Now, let’s consider whether or not there is a major change and Hamlin is alert and awake. All of my previous suggestions are still viable. There would be the added possibility of him giving an interview.

If I understand the reports correctly, it is a virtual certainty that when Damar Hamlin wakes up, he will not be ready to walk right out of the hospital. It’s also highly likely that he won’t feel like reflecting on what happened or having a deep conversation for the world to see as soon as Sunday.

That doesn’t mean producers won’t be trying. And you know what? They should try. It would be the biggest thing on TV if it were to happen.

What should we expect? Honestly, I have no idea. Just like on Tuesday morning across the country, no one has really had to plan a sports show like this before. I hope that Damar Hamlin and the issues Monday night brought up have a place on the pregame shows. They are important, but I recognize that the Packers and Lions could be playing for a playoff spot and homefield advantage in both conferences could be in play. If we are indeed playing games, those things are important too.

Jesse Palmer: I Don’t Know What My Media Career Is If I Wasn’t a Giant

BSM Staff
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Jesse Palmer: I Don’t Know What My Media Career Is If I Wasn’t a Giant


Jesse Palmer has been at ESPN for 14 years and has both analyzed college football games in the broadcast booth or in the studio. Before he joined ESPN, Palmer was playing quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL, wondering what his future would be. 

Palmer was a guest on the Soup With Coop podcast and he said to Cooper Manning that he did reach out to other people about when he should take the next step from the playing field to the TV booth: 

“My whole plan was to play 15 years in the NFL and just have that type of career. I talked to Troy Aikman, Jason Garrett, and some other guys that had started playing QB and had gone into TV a little bit about hey, when should you leave?”

“In 2007, when I signed with ESPN, I came to that fork in the road where I was offered a job. I called some NFL games for FOX at the end of the 2006 season, I got offered by FOX and ESPN, one for pro, one for college. I was playing in the CFL at the time and was having so much fun. I thought, do I really want to walk away from the game now?”

While Palmer got some good advice, he also knew that as a player, he had to take the opportunity to join TV whenever he could because it might not necessarily be there later on: 

“The advice I was getting from everybody was just play as long as you can, TV will always be there. The reality for us as players I think is every year Brett Favre is going to retire, Drew Brees is soon going to retire. If Drew Brees says I want to do TV, I would kind of like a seat, guess who is going to get the seat? There’s a Heisman Trophy winner that’s going to retire every year.”

“There are a limited amount of seats and I just felt like hey, I should capitalize on this opportunity, give it a honest shot. Worked at ESPN, did that for a year, loved it. I still felt attached to the game that I love. Really, the rest is history. It’s crazy. It’s been 14 years at ESPN now. The time has flown.”

Manning did ask Palmer if he was a backup quarterback in a market other than for the New York Giants (drafted in the 4th Round in 2001), did he think he would have the chance at the many media opportunities he has now whether it’s been being on The Bachelor or hosting shows on Food Network: 

I almost got drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs twice before the Giants picked me. Often times I wonder what would have happened. I got super lucky getting drafted to this media market where we had a huge media presence in our locker room at all times, tons of personalities in our locker room. Lot of guys that ended up being on TV from those Giants teams. In this city, I was able to tap into a lot of passions now with food…College is something we have control over, you can pick where you want to go. The NFL Draft, you have zero control over.”

Brad Thompson Gives Up Full-Time Role At 101 ESPN

BSM Staff
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The people of St. Louis will be hearing a little less from Brad Thompson. The former Cardinals pitcher has announced that he will not be on The Fast Lane each weekday any longer. He will stay at 101 ESPN in a part-time capacity.

“It was difficult the last couple of years just family-wise, not being around enough,” he explained to listeners. “I get to be around the family a little bit more.”

Thompson spent six years in Major Leagues Baseball. He won a World Series as a relief pitcher for the Cardinals in 2006. He has been with the station since 2013.

“Dude, this is the first real job that I’ve had since I was 16 years old if you don’t count baseball. I’ve been blessed enough to do it for a decade now, but I have made the decision to step back from doing this full-time.”

He thanked all of his current and past co-hosts and producers on The Fast Lane. He also told listeners that they have made the show feel like a family since day 1. He will miss talking to them every day.

Brad Thompson will continue to work on the Cardinals’ television broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest. He teased that his role will be expanding next season.

Adam Schefter: ‘No One Is At Fault’ On Five Minute Warmup Report

BSM Staff
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What happened on the field in Cincinnati on Monday night is unprecedented. That is what Adam Schefter wants you to remember as everyone debates whether or not the NFL really wanted Bills and Bengals players to begin warming up after an ambulance containing an unconscious Damar Hamlin left the field.

Making his weekly appearance on The John Kincade Show on Wednesday, ESPN’s NFL insider described his night on Monday Night Football. He and Booger McFarland were having dinner when Hamlin collapsed on the field. They rushed to the set knowing that they and Suzy Kolber would be needed if there was an extended delay.

There has been some dispute in the wake of Troy Vincent denying that the NFL was ever considering making players return to action after a five minute warmup. Joe Buck has said he stands by the report, which was first delivered on air by ESPN’s rules expert John Parry. Schefter echoed the sentiment.

“I stand behind John Parry, he told Kincade. “John Parry said it on air on the telecast. John Parry was told that – that the game would resume in five minutes.”

Adam Schefter added that he thought people were too focused on whether that is something the NFL was ever considering. He said that the five minute warmup before resuming action is the standard procedure for the league after an extended delay.

It makes sense that following that plan would have been the first instinct of someone in charge. Schefter says that NFL employees are human. Just like everyone at home, they needed time to realize how out of the ordinary the situation was.

“No one was at fault here,” he said. “I know there was at least one person that said [the game would resume] and so what? So they did? They thought ‘well this is how we’ve done it,’ but this is a different circumstance and it didn’t take long for people to recognize that.”

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