Elon Musk made the decision to suspend the Twitter accounts if several prominent journalists last week, which was not well received by many in news media. Tomi Lahren, however, was in support of the move.
During her Fox News Commentary Monday, Lahren shared she was in agreement with Musk on the decision, claiming it was a safety issue.
“He had a reason, though. These writers from The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and others were involved in sharing his real-time location- something he says will not fly on the platform,” Lahren said.
Lahren then chastised the media members who had their accounts reinstated for not being grateful.
“But even though Elon reinstated these accounts, the liberal media is still going bananas he dared to punish them in the first place. It took the 7-day suspension of these liberal journalists from these liberal outlets to get these liberal journalists and their liberal outlets to cover censorship in any way, shape, or form?”
David Pollack has been a part of College GameDay since 2011 and there is a lot of prep he has to do in order to help make the show the success that it still is today.
Pollack was a guest on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz last week and said that during the season, he has to make sure he knows everything that’s going on, which does cost him some time with his wife and two kids.
“You’ve got to just be dialed in. The weekends in college football season, I feel like a horrible dad and a horrible parent sometimes but I’m like I got to be dialed in. I’ve got to watch games. I’ve got to make sure I know what’s going on.”
Pollack did detail that the GameDay crew has the privilege to watch a lot of tape and they get the same perspective that the coaches do.
“During the weekdays, you have to watch a lot of tape. We are very fortunate. We have access to every single game in college football. We get to watch it from the coach’s copy and study and do our takes.”
Going forward, College Gameday is not going to have Chris “The Bear” Fallica on the broadcast anymore after Fallica decided to go to FOX Sports. Pollack told the show that Fallica was a big help to him from the minute he joined Gameday.
“Ever since I’ve been on the show, there’s always been the Bear. Before he was the Bear, Fallica was unreal. He brought me in and helped me look at things in different ways. He’s got that massive huge rolodex of sports information, I’ve never seen anything like that…He’s an amazing resource for us and he has been an amazing friend to me. Helped me along the way with everything I needws. We’ll definitely miss the big fella. His presence every week, he’s fun, he’s cantankerous, which makes it fun. It’s like losing a teammate from the locker room.”
However, Front Office Sports reports a source with knowledge on the negotiations says not to count out the tech giant just yet.
While the NFL is still reportedly seeking to double it’s annual rights fee for the service to $3 billion, Apple continues to be the frontrunner and logical choice to serve as the home for the NFL’s out-of-market contests.
Apple has already signed a contract with the NFL to be the presenting sponsor of the league’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and is one of the few companies that can afford a loss-leader as large as NFL Sunday Ticket.
Another point that could compel Apple back into negotiations with the league is the fact that Sunday Ticket is the league’s final media package available for purchase until 2033. The league inked 10-year contracts FOX, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video for its television packages. If Apple would like to get into the NFL broadcasting space, this is the last opportunity for the long-term.
The Diamond Sports Group — which operates the channels owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group — had been in discussions with the leagues to purchase the portfolio of channels for $3 billion, including the current debt. The Post claims that the company’s profitability forecast being slashed in half at the end of November made the leagues hesitant about paying a premium for the networks.
The report from the Post also claims the local streaming rights for the 14 MLB, 16 NBA, and 12 NHL teams are likely to eventually land with Apple, Amazon, and Facebook, according to sources.
“Right now, there is chaos. But we’ll be able to look back and say this is when a large tech company really entered the regional sports market,” an anonymous MLB team owner told The Post. “Right now, there is a large amount of people who don’t see games in their home markets. That’s not good for the sports leagues.”
The leagues are content to let the channels file for bankruptcy protection and see how those proceedings unfold rather than pay the $3 billion Diamond Sports Group has asked for in negotiations.
The bidding for the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package continues after news came over the weekend that the presumed favorite, Apple, was bowing out. Joe Rose and crew discussed the recent developments Monday morning on WQAM in Miami.
Not only is Apple out, but so is ESPN+. That leaves Google and Amazon as the likely landing spots for the league’s out-of-market TV package.
“Did you ever think we’d be talking about Apple, Amazon and Google jumping into sports with the networks?” Rose asked.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced earlier this year that Sunday Ticket would become a streaming product. It is the first time since its inception in 1994 that it is hitting the open market and will not be a DirecTV exclusive.
Any network that has done business with the NFL is used to price tags in the billions of dollars. With tech companies involved though, the playing field for some products has narrowed. Joe Rose said the “blank check” Apple reportedly has to acquire sports rights is going to make it hard for traditional TV to make competitive offers.
“The networks go ‘We’re out! We don’t have money like those guys. Those guys have stupid money!’”
Piers Morgan is often a polarizing figure in media circles, which is why Kara Swisher welcomed the British media star to an episode of her On podcast, which debuted Monday, featuring Morgan taking a shot at former CNN co-worker Anderson Cooper.
While discussing his return to Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp., Morgan said the organization in Britain is a tight-knit group.
“I gotta say — and people can believe this or not — but I find it a very friendly collegiate place to work,” Morgan said. “Everyone’s very nice. When I was at CNN, it could be a lot less friendly than Fox. A lot more back biting, a lot more backstabbing actually in some cases.”
That is when Morgan levied an unspecified accusation at Cooper.
“Don’t wanna mention names, but Anderson Cooper knows where he is. And I found that Fox — I found that Fox is a different atmosphere by contrast.”
It’s not the first time Morgan has levied a shot at Cooper. In 2014, after his CNN show — Piers Morgan Live — was cancelled, Morgan told Politico that his show didn’t have a great lead-in with Anderson Cooper 360, saying “Anderson is a great field reporter, but does he drive big ratings at CNN, outside of a big news cycle? I don’t see any evidence of it. And yet the whole bank was being bet on him at 8 and 10 o’clock.” Morgan clarified in the same interview that he believes Cooper is “good at what he does” but he didn’t drive viewership like Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly did for Fox News, at the time.
Dan Bongino has announced that his national radio show with Westwood One will end when his contract expires.
On Friday’s show, Bongino said Cumulus Media approached him after the death of Rush Limbaugh to fill the timeslot, which he originally declined. After reconsidering, he told listeners “‘You know what? I’ll take it, but for a limited amount of time’.”
He said the decision “really sucks because I spent a lot of time building this and I love it and it’s grown on me,” adding “the first few months were really tough” as he grew into the role.
“Live radio is different. It’ll always be my first love,” Bongino said. “I’ve been doing it for seven years…there’s a different energy to it (live radio). There’s breaking news and the ability to shift on the fly. I’m gonna miss it. A lot. I don’t know where or what will happen after, but if you think walking away from this — and this isn’t a money thing. It’s never a money thing if you’ve got a following. There’s always money to be found out there. It’s a grifter thing, to worry about the money first. But it’s you that makes the difference. And you matter to me.”
The former Secret Service and NYPD officer added he has a year and a half left on his contract, and he plans to enjoy and savor every minute of it.
Bongino’s relationship with Cumulus Media has been a contentious one, which boiled over into public with his strong disagreement with the company’s vaccine mandate. He briefly stepped aside from his hosting role to protest the policy. Bongino did mention that his podcast will continue, as will his involvement on television.
Recently, former ESPN boss John Skipper appeared on the Puck News podcast The Townand insinuated that Apple may have interest in buying Disney. Dylan Byers, who is not part of The Town, but does write for Puck says that is not happening.
“I have it on good authority that that’s not on the table right now,” he wrote in a joint column with Julia Alexander on Friday. “The regulatory climate makes it impossible, of course, and Apple doesn’t want to be in the theme parks/cruise business anyway, much less manage the inexorable decline of the linear assets.”
Disney has been in some turmoil lately. Bob Iger returned as CEO last month after Bob Chapek was let go. That has set off a string of speculation regarding which future projects will be prioritized and which ones will be abandoned.
The idea of Apple buying Disney comes at an interesting time. The tech giant just backed out of negotiations to become the streaming home of NFL Sunday Ticket amid reports that the expectations of the company and the league did not match up. Would Apple really want to take on a portfolio that includes ESPN, which holds a multitude of rights deals with a large number of partners, all with unique demands?
Apple’s TV product is solely digital. Do streaming services have the same needs that linear networks do?
Byers describes football as a “loss leader” in the eyes of traditional media companies, the idea being that the eyeballs football brings to your network will then see what else you have to offer.
He says that model is what led to Apple exiting negotiations with the NFL. There was never a money issue. The company didn’t see the logic in what the NFL was asking for.
Perhaps Apple will still be interested in doing a deal with the NBA next year. Right now, it has kept its circle of sports partners small enough to easily adapt to each one’s needs. Taking on ESPN would complicate things tremendously and force Apple to do business in a way that it has already decided has no appeal.
CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin has died.
The network announced the death Monday morning, as CEO Chris Licht sent a memo to staff honoring the longtime reporter.
“Drew’s death is a devastating loss to CNN and our entire profession,” said Licht. “A highly acclaimed investigative journalist, Drew’s work had incredible impact and embodied the mission of this organization in every way.”
According to the network, Griffin worked on “hundreds of stories and multiple documentaries” during his time with CNN. Griffin’s reporting on the high number of sexual assault allegations against Uber drivers, which resulted in the company making sweeping changes to its background check policy.
The Chicago native won a Peabody Award and won three National Emmy’s during his tenure at CNN. In 2007, the Atlanta Press Club honored him as their Journalist of the Year.
Griffin joined CNN in 2004 after multiple stops in local television. He was 60.
Welcome to day 6 of our 7 day BNM Top 20 of 2022 series presented by Steve Stone Voiceovers. If this is your first time visiting our website and you missed the prior Top 20 announcements, be sure to catch up on the top National Shows,Major and Mid Market Morning Shows, Major and Mid Market Midday shows, Major and Mid Market Afternoon Shows, and Major and Mid Market Program Directors. The results represent the collective input shared by 44 radio industry programmers and executives from 15 companies in 36 cities. We thank them for making time to be part of this process.
If you’re unaware, the News/Talk radio format is offered on over two thousand stations. The only larger format is country. We try our best to make sure the top shows, hosts, programmers and brands from the News/Talk world are listed for voting consideration on our ballots but we also allow room for our voters to add nominees if for some reason someone isn’t listed. Additionally, though we triple check everything before publishing the lists and hope to present a perfect layout, sometimes mistakes happen. If you notice an error, please let us know. We want to shine the light on the format’s best brands and shows in a way that makes them feel proud to be recognized, not frustrated by an incorrect detail.
One thing to add, we haven’t included NPR brands and shows on our lists. Maybe down the line we’ll change that or add an extra category but for now, terrestrial outlets are our main focus. This series will conclude on Tuesday with a look at the top Original Digital Shows, and then on Wednesday, we’ll have a big announcement from Barrett Media President Jason Barrett. Stay tuned.
As it pertains to the voting, here are a few things to be aware of.
#1 – Our executive voters were asked to pick their Top 20 selections for each category based on a few key factors; quality of show (ear test), originality, ability to entertain-inform-connect across multiple platforms, ratings success, clearance (national shows) and industry buzz. Remember, our voters live in different cities, have different tastes, work for different groups, and value certain factors higher than others. This isn’t a perfect system but it’s the best one we’ve been able to create to showcase the industry’s best. Having done this for seven years for the sports talk format, we’re going to stick with it until another approach makes more sense.
#2 – Our executive panel consists of program directors and corporate executives from a number of top broadcasting companies including Audacy, iHeart, Cumulus, Beasley, Hubbard, Good Karma Brands, Cox Media Group, Radio One, Alpha, Bonneville, FOX News Radio, Hearst, Federated Media, Zimmer Communications, and Westwood One. We involve a large number of people in order to receive feedback from all parts of the country, and to avoid the results heavily favoring one company.
#3 – A total of 52 radio stations appeared on ballots turned in by our radio industry panel.
Which brings us to today’s category – Major Market News/Talk Radio Stations. Congrats to WTOP in Washington D.C. on being voted #1. This was the first time a Major Market category was won by a brand other than KFI in Los Angeles. BNM congratulates Joel Oxley, Julie Ziegler and the entire WTOP team on a well deserved honor, as well as every other station that earned a spot on this year’s list.
Now, here are the full results of “BNM’s Top 20 Major Market News/Talk Radio Stations of 2022!”
Additional Notes:
WTOP won a close contest finishing four (4) points ahead of KFI in this category. The D.C. talk station recorded the most first place votes with seven (7).
Spots 21-25 belonged to WJR in Detroit, WCCO in Minneapolis, 710 WOR in New York City, WRKO in Boston, and KRLD in Dallas.
Our closest contest had KIRO and WBAP ahead of WMAL and KOA by two (2) points.
Of the 52 radio stations to gain votes from our panel, nine (9) received at least one 1st place vote.
Here is the remaining schedule for the BNM Top 20 of 2022.
Tuesday December 20 = The Top 20 Original N/T Digital Shows of 2022
A reminder, BNM will have a big announcement following the Top 20 series on Wednesday December 21st. Make sure to visit the website that day to learn what else we’re up to.
Tomi Lahren: Elon Musk Justified In Twitter Suspensions
Elon Musk made the decision to suspend the Twitter accounts if several prominent journalists last week, which was not well received by many in news media. Tomi Lahren, however, was in support of the move.
During her Fox News Commentary Monday, Lahren shared she was in agreement with Musk on the decision, claiming it was a safety issue.
“He had a reason, though. These writers from The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and others were involved in sharing his real-time location- something he says will not fly on the platform,” Lahren said.
Lahren then chastised the media members who had their accounts reinstated for not being grateful.
“But even though Elon reinstated these accounts, the liberal media is still going bananas he dared to punish them in the first place. It took the 7-day suspension of these liberal journalists from these liberal outlets to get these liberal journalists and their liberal outlets to cover censorship in any way, shape, or form?”