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Tom Brady: I’ll Join FOX in 2024

BSM Staff
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Many have questioned whether Tom Brady will actually join FOX Sports’ top NFL booth after he retires. Today, we have that answer.

During an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Brady confirmed he will indeed join Kevin Burkhardt in the network’s top NFL booth, but not until the 2024 season.

“Decompression is important,” Brady said, noting he’ll join the network’s NFL coverage after a year off from the game. “You’re on this kind of really crazy treadmill/hamster wheel, loving the moment, loving the journey, (but) at the same time there’s a daily fight. I have an appreciation to those who are so committed to showing up every day and putting in their max effort to their life and their career.

“I think — for me — I want to be great at what I do. So last week, talking with the people at FOX Sports and the leadership there allowing me to start my FOX opportunity in the fall of 2024 is something that’s great for me.”

Brady added he needs time to absorb a new career before jumping in head first.

“Take some time to really learn, become great at what I want to do, become great at thinking about the opportunity, and make sure I don’t rush into anything. Even in the future, I wanna be great at what I do. That takes time strategizing, and learning, and evolving, and I have so many people to rely on that can support me in that growth, too.”

The seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback concluded by saying there are other aspects of his life outside of football that “need some catching up and energy”. He went through a high-profile divorce from supermodel Gisele Bündchen, reportedly stemming from his refusal to retire after the 2021 NFL season.

Brady signed a reported 10-year, $375 million contract with FOX Sports to join the network’s top NFL announcing crew, and serve as a brand ambassador in May of last year.

The addition of Brady to the FOX Sports booth creates a potential log jam in the analyst role. Current FOX Sports top NFL analyst Greg Olsen has received high praise from many both inside and outside the industry for his work with Burkhardt. Olsen hasn’t been shy about his wish to remain in the network’s top booth, saying that while the situation “sucks”, he is a “big boy” and “knows what he signed up for”.

Newsmax CEO: We Asked DirecTV For $1 A Year

BNM Staff
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Newsmax CEO: We Asked DirecTV For $1 A Year

Newsmax has now been off the DirecTV channel lineup for more than a week, and its CEO — Chris Ruddy — continues to speak out on what he calls censorship from the satellite provider.

Ruddy was a guest on The Mark Simone Show on 710 WOR and told the New York host DirecTV claimed it would never pay the cable outlet a carriage fee.

“DirecTV had us on for five years and they removed us — censored us — making a very strange demand of Newsmax that they don’t demand of other cable news channels,” Ruddy said.

“There’s 22 liberal news channels on DirecTV and they said ‘Newsmax is the only cable news channel that’s never gonna get a cable fee’. And we’re like ‘Well, why?’, and they’re like ‘We need to save money’. We’re the fourth highest-rated cable news channel and there’s probably 100 channels less rated than we are that you’re paying more than this tiny license fee we were asking of about a dollar a year. And they were very obstinate in this because they knew that it was a way of cleverly trying to shut us down as a news channel.”

When asked by Simone what the reaction had been to being “de-platformed” by the satellite provider, Ruddy said there’s a chance the channel could return if public pushback continues.

“They are telling people they are thinking about bringing us back,” added Ruddy. “This is after President Trump and others have called for people to just cancel DirecTV. He said he was canceling DirecTV and AT&T, including his cell phones. And a lot of people have been calling…we’re also encouraging people to call Congress to have hearings on this because its also an example of woke censorship by AT&T to target us and One America (News).”

Troy Aikman Believes Tom Brady Has Bright Broadcasting Future

BSM Staff
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Troy Aikman has been in the NFL broadcast booth since 2001 and he knows first-hand what Tom Brady will have to go through as he goes from the playing field to the booth. The game has changed over the last 20 years, particularly the speed at which the game is played.

Aikman was a guest on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast and he was asked about the biggest adjustment he had to make when he entered the FOX booth at the time. The Hall-of-Fame QB mentioned how a lot goes on in the booth and it takes a little bit to adjust.

“There is a lot going on in a broadcast booth that it just takes a little bit of time to understand and have things slow down a little bit. There’s this idea that whether you are a player or a former coach when you go into a broadcast booth, I can’t wait to be able to educate the viewer on X and explain this.

“There’s less time now than there was when I got into the broadcast booth because all these offenses are playing up-tempo. You have to be done talking before the snap of the next play so you just don’t have the kind of time to get into a lot of that.

“What I learned early on is you start down this road of explaining something and then you have to somehow wrap it up to be done talking before Joe jumps back in. You leave something hanging and then a big play happens and you never get back to it…Adjusting to all the action and all the activity going on in the broadcast booth and the timing of everything is probably the biggest challenge.” 

When he is in the booth, Aikman mentioned that he never wants the audience to feel like he has all the answers when he analyzes a game and there are only a few times when he will get very critical.

“I don’t go into a broadcast feeling like I have all the answers to what’s happening on the field and I don’t want to come off as though I do have all the answers because these guys spend an enormous amount of time giving it everything they have and it’s more important for them to win than anyone watching the game. I tend to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt.

“Where I’m critical is just not very smart plays, lack of effort, lack of discipline. Those things are when I tend to then react pretty strongly.”

As for his thoughts on Brady becoming an analyst, Aikman believes Brady will do whatever he can to be successful and he is looking forward to hearing some of the opinions Brady has on the game that now he will be able to say as an analyst.

“I think that for him, he has some real opinions. He hasn’t always voiced all of those, of course. Now he will have a platform to where it will be expected and I think he will deliver. I fully expect him to have a really great broadcasting career.

“My only advice is just be you, be authentic, be honest, speak your mind. He will find his niche. He will do that respectfully and I think he will add a lot to the broadcast.”

Jay Williams Tells Stephen A. Smith His Criticism Of Kyrie Irving ‘Seems Personal’

BSM Staff
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Kyrie Irving is a lot of things. Boring is rarely one of them. Discussions of Kyrie Irving can get heated, particularly when those discussions involve Jay Williams and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.

Williams was a guest on First Take Monday morning. He was part of a panel discussing Irving’s trade request, which ultimately ended with him as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. He and Smith butted heads

“First off, I’m not the one yelling,” he said to Smith. “You say I’m being sensitive and I don’t know why, but you’re the one that’s very emotional right now.”

That comment was met with an “Oh my God!” from Smith, who laid back while Williams told him that it seemed like Smith is considerably harder on Irving and more triggered by stories about him than about any other athlete.

Smith answered that he is always triggered. Williams, as a regular viewer of First Take, said that did not feel true. He said that it seemed like Stephen A. Smith has a personal problem with Kyrie Irving.

“You — of all people, with all the interest you have — have the nerve to sit here on national television and tell me I’m getting personal with a player?” Smith responded. “I don’t lose no sleep. I don’t lose any sleep over Kyrie Irving.”

Smith then claimed he’d to have too much to say. Jay Williams said he did too, to which Smith started saying “Just say it, Jay.”

Williams met those demands with “I’m not here for that” and “I am on your show,” as host Molly Qerim tried to bring the temperature down.

When it comes to daytime sports television, there will always be questions about how authentic the arguments really are. Last year, Jay Williams was a guest on The Jason Barrett Podcast. He admitted on that show that Smith’s discussions of Kyrie Irving are something he has seized on to create conflict when they are together.

“The way he went at Kyrie all of last year ‘Well, you know some people don’t like to come to work. Some people don’t like to be here’ and then all the sudden for him to flip and be like ‘I’m choosing Kyrie Irving for my MVP’ I’m like ‘No! No, you can’t do that!’

Whether this was co-workers genuinely butting heads, a disagreement played up for the cameras, or some combination of the two, will likely only be known by Stephen A. Smith and Jay Williams. Plenty of their sports media colleagues took notice though.

Megyn Kelly: ‘I Would Have Had Don Lemon Fired’ After Alleged Outburst

BNM Staff
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Reporting from The New York Post last week claimed Don Lemon had an “outburst” on CNN This Morning co-host Kaitlan Collins for stepping on one another during the Thursday, December 8th show. SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly said if a similar situation had happened while she was at Fox News, she would have had that co-host fired.

“I’ve co-hosted more hours than I can count with a lot of guys with big egos — appropriately big egos — and never — never — have I screamed at a colleague or had him scream at me,” Kelly said. “We’ve had charged disagreements. Had a charged disagreement with Chris Wallace one time. We’re never screaming at each other, and you pick it up right after. If somebody ever screamed at me to the point where I was visibly upset and ran out of the studio, I would have that person fired. I would make sure that person was fired.”

The comments from Kelly came after she mentioned she was in the same position as Collins with some of her former Fox News colleagues, but it never resulted in raising their voices at one another.

“I co-hosted a show with Bill Hemmer for three years. I was on the air with Bret Baier more times than I can count. And sometimes somebody gets on your nerves,” said Kelly. “What you don’t do is scream at them after the fact. Later you say ‘Oh, we stepped on each other’.”

“It’s all about servicing the audience, if you’re a professional,” continued Kelly. “If you’re a douchebag, you scream at the woman next to you and blame it on her.”

Kelly concluded by stating that it is likely Collins is not the first co-worker Lemon has screamed at, and if The New York Post continued digging, they would find another female anchor to corroborate that Lemon has a history of this conduct.

Howie Carr: CNN Producers ‘Sheltered If Shaken By Don Lemon Outbursts’

BNM Staff
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Howie Carr: CNN Producers ‘Sheltered If Shaken By Don Lemon Outbursts’

Reporting last week revealed tension behind the scenes of CNN This Morning, as Don Lemon has reportedly had “outbursts” during commercial breaks and after shows. Notably, one of the outbursts was allegedly directed at co-host Kaitlan Collins, after Lemon believed she continually interrupts him. Radio host Howie Carr couldn’t believe that producers were “shaken” by the events.

“It was apparently seen by the show’s crew, which means more people saw it than if it would have been shown on the air,” Carr joked.

The alleged outburst with Collins happened on Thursday, December 8th, in which Lemon was angered by Collins “talking over him”. The situation apparently led to Collins getting emotional and storming off the set.

Curtis Houck of NewsBusters assembled clips from the show to highlight that the two anchors did talk over each other quite often on that episode of the morning show.

CNN producers were labeled as “shaken” by the interaction, which caused Carr to question their reactions.

“I know I’m an old timer, but in the old days if you were in TV for a few years and you ended up on a network, chances are you had been in a couple of scrapes,” said Carr. “The crew was rattled? By Don Lemon screaming at somebody? They must have led sheltered lives, these people.”

CNN told Mediaite that the report from The New York Post was “wildly overblown and two months old. Don, Kaitlan and Poppy were friends before they were co-anchors and they remain friends today.”

David Schultz Out At 105.5 WNSP

BSM Staff
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WNSP is looking for a new afternoon show. A source tells Barrett Sports Media that David Schultz has been let go.

Schultz served as the Program Director as well as the host of The Game Plan in afternoon drive. Michael Brauner has been his co-host since last April.

David Schultz came to Mobile in August of 2019, replacing Creg Stephenson and Randy Kennedy, who is now heard on crosstown rival Sports Talk 99.5. Before coming to Alabama, Schultz hosted mornings on 103.7 The Game in Lafayette, Louisiana. He is also a former contributor to WQAM in Miami.

“To the listeners of WNSP, it has been my honor and pleasure driving you home from work since August of 2019,” he wrote on Twitter. “I had a blast covering the Jaguars, Tide & Tigers, Saints, and high school sports and then sharing my opinions. I appreciated your patience as it took this ‘yankee’ a bit to get used to his surroundings. Thank you very much for bringing me into your homes, cars, and phones.”

The station’s permanent afternoon plans are far from solidified. BSM has learned that Mark Heim — who currently hosts The Opening Kickoff on the station — will cover the shift in the interim.

Audacy, New York Mets Announce Addition of Keith Raad, Pat McCarthy

BSM Staff
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Audacy, New York Mets Announce Addition of Keith Raad, Pat McCarthy

As has been previously speculated, the New York Mets and WCBS have officially announced the additions of Keith Raad and Pat McCarthy to its radio broadcast team.

Raad joins the crew after spending last season announcing games for the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets single-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. He has also been the voice of Wagner University football and women’s basketball since 2017.

McCarthy — the son of Philadelphia Phillies television voice Tom McCarthy — has served as the voice of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the AAA-affiliate of the Phillies. He has filled in on Phillies broadcasts during the past two seasons, in addition to working as a football, and men’s/women’s basketball announcer for Princeton and St. Joseph’s Universities.

“The Mets are excited to have Keith and Pat join WCBS 880 as part of the Mets broadcast,” said Andy Goldberg, Executive Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer, New York Mets. “Having Keith called up from Brooklyn, and being a local New Yorker to keep it in the family is what the Mets are all about.”

Raad will serve as the play-by-play and color commentator on the club’s broadcasts, while McCarthy will host the pregame and postgame shows, and step into the play-by-play role held by Howie Rose during select broadcasts.

“As we round the bases towards Spring Training, we’re proud to officially welcome Keith Raad and Pat McCarthy to our popular coverage of Mets baseball alongside Mets Hall of Famer Howie Rose,” said Chris Oliviero, Market President, Audacy New York. “Once again, the Mets offseason has created anticipation and optimism for the 2023 Amazins’ and we’re looking forward to being the audio home for every moment on-air and digitally.”

Scott Shannon: ‘Radio Is Not Dying’

BNM Staff
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Scott Shannon: ‘Radio Is Not Dying’

Last week, an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Sadness and Static as AM Stations Fade” discussed the demise of AM radio. It pointed out that several European carmakers including Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, and Volvo have stopped putting AM radios in certain models, but Scott Shannon doesn’t believe that means radio is dying.  

AM radio tends to focus on spoken-word formats, such as talk radio, all news, and sports. Although many broadcasting companies have purchased FM translators to bolster their signals and broaden the reach of their AM news/talk brands, the rise and prominence of electric vehicles (EVs) has cast a cloud of uncertainty across the industry.

The subject is eliciting reaction from one of the legendary voices and programmers in the business. Shannon, a former WCBS-FM host who retired after a Hall of Fame career spanning 40 years in New York City radio, joined Mark Simone on 710 WOR Friday. Shannon’s journey as a program director and the meteoric rise of Z100 is chronicled in a documentary called Worst to First. 

In 2003, Shannon was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C., and in 2006 he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago. He noted that last week’s WSJ article is just one in a long line of doomsday prognostications about the fate of the medium.

“Radio is not dying,” Shannon said. “If I do a commercial, I run into people all the time that tell me I heard your commercial talking about a Mazda. People still listen to the radio, look at your ratings.”

Shannon is best known for his time in the music genre but can be heard daily as the voice of The Sean Hannity Show heard on more than 650 radio stations nationwide. 

“Your number one in your timeslot,” Shannon told Simone. “If you’re not good, you’re just sitting there playing music or whatever, if you have content that is exciting or informative, or intelligent, people will listen to you.” 

Shannon added that Spotify and Pandora have replaced record collections and are not necessarily a substitute for traditional radio stations. 

“It’s also a lot of younger people, they don’t really spend a lot of time listening to the radio anymore because they’re on TikTok or all those other places but as far as grown-ups, they still listen to the radio. Look at the audience that Rush Limbaugh had,” Shannon said.

FOX Sells Out Super Bowl Ad Time

BSM Staff
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FOX Sells Out Super Bowl Ad Time

FOX Sports has reportedly sold out its allotment of Super Bowl ads, with some fetching $7 million for a 30-second spot.

According to a report from Deadline, the average price per ad was between $6 and $7 million, per FOX Sports Executive Vice President of Ad Sales Mark Evans.

Evans also told Deadline the ad slots for the event sold out two weeks ago. Volatility with some advertisers — like cryptocurrency brand FTX — and economic conditions were listed as reasons for why it took until three weeks before the event to sell out.

“As things have now settled down a bit and people feel better about the economic trajectory, a few of those units that were available picked up in earnest,” Evans said.

FOX claimed in September it had sold 95% of its available ad space for television’s largest event.

The $7 million price-tag for a 30-second commercial is in line with what first-time Super Bowl ad buyers paid for in 2022 when the event aired on NBC. That network’s reported asking price for commercials was between $5.8 and $6.2 million, with 40 advertisers joining the fray for Super Bowl LVI.

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