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Meadowlark Media Launching Anthology Series ‘Sports Explains the World’

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Meadowlark Media Launching Anthology Series ‘Sports Explains the World’

Meadowlark Media, the studio founded by Dan Le Batard and John Skipper, is aiming to tell stories with the launching of a new multi-platform series.

MM is launching Sports Explains the World, an ambitious effort that will consist of 30 short documentaries and 45 podcasts that use sports-related stories to reveal greater truths about the world and society.

“We are putting a stake in the ground that we are going to be a storytelling company,” Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter. “When we launched the company, what we wanted to do overwhelmingly is to tell stories. Both in the number of podcasts we do and in our video. And one of the great ways to tell a story is to have an anthology series in which to put those.” 

The stories are set to debut in early 2023, but when and where they are to be consumed is still unknown. However, Meadowlark has a first-look deal with Apple TV+.

Skipper compared the Sports Explains the World series in similar terms to 30 for 30.

“When we launched 30 for 30 [at ESPN], people knew it was quality, what kind of storytelling we did. We want to do the same thing with Sports Explains the World,” Skipper adds. 

The series is exploring stories such as some from Ukraine and Ethiopia, but also a look at the 300 or so Kobe Bryant murals around Los Angeles, Curt Schilling’s infamous 38 Studios debacle and Wilt Chamberlain’s legacy.

“The thesis is that at the end of the day the stickiest content is the content that has the best storytelling, and we are in a world where streamers need to acquire subscribers and retain subscribers, and some big name or famous subjects will bring in audience, but you retain it by creating content that people want to see,” Skipper says. 

Pac-12 Network Takes Dish to Court Over Unpaid Fees

BSM Staff
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The Pac-12 Network is taking Dish Network to court for withholding payments and violating the terms of their distribution agreement all stemming from the 2020 COVID-impacted season.

The conference is seeking damages and injunctive relief, according to The Mercury News, in order “to both recoup the license fees Dish has already improperly withheld and to prevent any continued withholding of fees due under the parties’ agreement,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed on October 6 in U.S. District Court in Colorado.

According to the lawsuit, Dish pays the Pac-12 Network a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers it has to the Pac-12 Network. Also, Dish is due a rebate if the network fails to broadcast a minimum numbers of games in a season, usually about 36. In 2020, the Pac-12 Network broadcast only one game: San Diego State at Colorado.

In February of 2022, the Pac-12 offered a rebate for the 2020 season and according to the lawsuit, Dish accepted a month later. However, the lawsuit alleges that Dish “also inexplicably demanded from the Pac-12 additional rebates for the two contract years before 2020-21.” The Pac-12 contends that Dish’s claim is “improper and unreasonable” because Dish “could not possibly have suffered losses during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 contract years from COVID-19-related football shortfalls occurring one to two years thereafter.”

Dish declined to comment per its policy on “ongoing litigation matters.”

The Pac-12 also declined to comment.

FOX’s Big Noon Saturday Still Holds College Football’s Most-Watched Window

BSM Staff
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Six weeks into the college football season, FOX is still king in terms of having the most-watched viewing window.

On Saturday, FOX grabbed 4,005,000 viewers for the Michigan-Indiana matchup in the Big Noon Saturday window, up 40% from 2021’s Week 6 game of Maryland-Ohio State (2,870,000).

In other college football ratings news from the network, the Oklahoma State-Texas Tech games grabbed 1,633,000 viewers which was the most-watched Big 12 conference game on FS1 since 2017 (Oklahoma-Oklahoma State). It also represents an increase of 240% from FS1’s average of 480,000 for Big 12 Saturday in 2021.

TCU-Kansas drew 1,309,000 viewers on FS1, up 173% from FS1’s Big 12 Saturday average.

College GameDay Has Huge Ratings Weekend

BSM Staff
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ESPN’s College GameDay traveled to Lawrence, Kansas this past weekend for the first time ever for a football game and the results were very, very good.

The show averaged 2,291,000 viewers, up 22% from last year’s Week 6 episode. The average made it the highest-rated ESPN College GameDay pre-November show since 2010 and ranks as the network’s 6th-best episode since the show expanded to three hours in 2013.

GameDay averaged 2,980,000 viewers during the show’s final hour, peaking at 3,500,000 viewers.

Roland Martin: Fox News Gave Kayne West ‘All The White Validation He Needs’

BNM Staff
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Kanye West was a prominent figure on Fox News last week, before tweeting he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people” in a tweet. Many commentators noted the increase in coverage of West on Fox News. Rapper Charlamagne Tha God has been one of West’s largest critics, and digital news host Roland Martin pointed out a perceived hypocrisy from Fox News around its coverage of West.

“I told y’all when that fool wore his little White Lives Matter shirt with that other dumbass Candace Owens I wasn’t wasting my time with those fools. But I told y’all what happens when you give folks attention. So Kanye West goes on Fox News, sits down with Tucker Carlson, and oh my lord the folks at Fox News just praised him up and down. Called this man a genius and incredible,” Martin said before saying “the white nationalists at Fox News gave him (West) all the white validation he needs”.

Martin then aired a clip compiled by MediaMatters that featured Jeannie Pirro, Will Cain, Carlson, Joe Concha, Jason Whitlock, and Greg Gutfeld, among others, praising West for speaking out about conservative issues.

It then shifted to how Fox News discussed the tweet West sent out saying he would go attack Jewish people, making the puzzling claim he couldn’t be labeled as Anti-Semitic because black people are also Jewish.

“Did you all hear how these folks just lost their mind? Kanye’s like Black Jesus to them. They were just beside themselves with praise. Then things changed when he dropped this tweet. That didn’t sit too well with the folks on Instagram or Twitter, so he got thrown into jail on Instagram and on Twitter. But the thing that to me is just hilarious is to watch how these folks are just running and back-tracking.”

Next Pat McAfee Show ESPN2 Megacast Set For Saturday Night

BSM Staff
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Next Pat McAfee Show ESPN2 Megacast Set For Saturday Night

The Pat McAfee Show crew is returning to ESPN2 on Saturday night. The second edition of College Football Primetime with the Pat McAfee Show will be for another prime time ACC matchup as Clemson and Florida State face off.

Just over a quarter-million people tuned in for the first edition of the Omaha Productions simulcast two weeks ago. McAfee himself admitted that the audience could have been bigger with more promotion, but the crew still wasn’t exactly sure what they wanted their alternate broadcast to be.

“We had no idea, it was very much of a roll of the dice,” he said on his radio show last week. “Going into the next one I think we’re gonna try and make it even grander and bigger, and I’m very excited for it.”

Nothing is finalized for Saturday night, but he promised his audience that he was working on bringing a guest to the studio that would “be worth watching for.” That prompted co-host AJ Hawk to guess that it could be celebrity magician Cris Angel, a rumor McAfee was quick to shoot down.

“No, he’s got shows on Saturdays,” McAfee said plainly. “There’s no way he’s gonna be in. He’s got a sold out theater out there in Vegas. It’s not Cris Angel. You can take Cris Angel off the list.”

Pat McAfee and his crew always serve as the alternate broadcast to the college football game ABC is showing in primetime on Saturday night. That is why the Tigers and Noles are featured and not either of the top ten matchups between Michigan and Penn State, which airs on FOX, or Alabama and Tennessee, which airs on CBS.

Joe Concha: New York Times Best-Sellers List Isn’t Accurate

BNM Staff
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Fox News contributor Joe Concha joined The Mark Simone Show on 710 WOR Tuesday to discuss his new book, “Come On Man!: The Truth About Joe Biden’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Presidency“. He told Simone his book deserves to be on The New York Times best-seller list, but you won’t likely find it there.

“If I’m on The Wall Street Journal best-sellers list and the Amazon best-sellers list, and the Publisher’s Weekly best-sellers list, why exactly did The New York Times — the paper of record — somehow leave me off theirs even thought I know my book sold more copies than most other books on that list? I think that might be biased, Mark. I think that just hit me,” said Concha.

Concha then went on to compare The New York Times not including the best-selling books on their list to them deciding the New York Mets actually defeated the San Diego Padres in the MLB playoffs because they like the Mets better than the Padres.

He then added that the author of “The Exorcist“, William Friedkin, sued the paper because his book wasn’t included on the best-sellers list, and The Times admitted the list isn’t solely based on book sales but is also editorialized.

“Isn’t this the paper that claims there’s no election tampering? They tamper with their own lists!”, Simone said.

Chris Oliviero: 1010 WINS Benefits More Than 880 WCBS From Move to FM Simulcast

BNM Staff
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Last week, Audacy New York announced it would create an FM simulcast for all-news 1010 WINS on 92.3 FM. Audacy New York Market President Chris Oliviero discussed the change with Inside Radio, and said the media landscape “is changing under our feet”, noting that the move to an FM simulcast was necessary to protect both 1010 WINS and 880 WCBS.

Many had pondered why the company would choose to give an FM simulcast to 1010 WINS and not 880 WCBS, and Oliviero said it was a simple decision.

“From a facility standpoint, WINS would benefit from the update greater,” Oliviero said.

880 WCBS and 1010 WINS both have 50,000 watts of power on the AM dial. However, 1010 WINS is a directional Class B signal, while 880 WCBS is a Class A non-directional signal. WYNL, the call letters of the 92.3 FM frequency, has 6,000 watts of power.

In the latest Nielsen ratings, WINS had a 3.0 share in persons 6+, while WCBS saw a 2.9 share. ALT 92.3, the station restructured in the move, had a 1.2 share during the September ratings period.

WBNS Celebrating 100 Years On-Air

BSM Staff
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WBNS Celebrating 100 Years On-Air

WBNS Radio in Columbus is celebrating 100 years on-air.

WBNS-AM was launched in 1922 by C.A. Entrekin as WCAH in the living room of his home, before being purchased by the Wolfe Family in the early 1930s. They changed the call letters to WBNS, with BNS standing for the family’s business interests Banks, News, and Shoes.

The Wolfe Family began experimenting with the FM band in the 40s before acquiring 97.1 FM in 1957.

The station is now owned by TENGA, and operates as 97.1 The Fan and 1460 ESPN Columbus.

“It is so exciting to be celebrating 100 years of broadcasting tradition and excellence on ESPN Columbus,” said vice president and station manager Todd Markiewicz.  “The Wolfe Family provided a century of tradition and service to our community and our entire team is proud to carry on that legacy. 100 years of doing anything well is impressive. Through our broadcasting, we’ve become part of the fabric of our community with a front row seat to its rich history.  These historic call letters have not only stood the test of time, but have gained momentum and grown into a local, regional, and national sports marketing leader.”

WBNS has served as the flagship radio station for Ohio State Athletics since 1983. It has also served as the radio home of the Columbus Blue Jackets since their inaugural season in 2000. In addition, 97.1 The Fan is the Columbus home for the Cleveland Browns.

To celebrate its 100-year anniversary, the station will air a one-hour special at 9:00 PM to commemorate the occasion.

Kenny Albert Believes Hockey Is Easiest Sport To Announce

BSM Staff
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On Wednesday night, the NHL on TNT will begin its second season with a doubleheader of action. In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Kenny Albert will be on the call with Eddie Olczyk, Keith Jones, and Jackie Redmond as the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche host the Chicago Blackhawks (9:30 PM ET).

Albert was a guest on the latest episode of The Wormcast: How Sports Media Happens Podcast on Tuesday and he said NHL on TNT in its first year went very well and mentioned how having ex-players ask questions to current players before the game made for better answers.

“I thought year 1 went very, very well. I loved some of the things that Turner decided to do with the pregame crew. Those guys would do the interview with players before the games on the ice for example. Those of us in the booth can ask the same 2-3 questions to a player before the game and you might get the same stock answers. What are the keys tonight? What are the biggest challenges against your opponent? When you have a Wayne Gretzky or a Rick Tocchet or an Anson Carter or a Paul Bissonette asking the questions, the players certainly react to that.”

Going into that first season, Albert mentioned that they wanted to take the great work that NBC did in the prior 15 years and add to it.

“I think the mantra was to take what NBC had done over the decade and a half and move forward and enhance the broadcast. I thought both networks did an outstanding job.”

Albert has one of the unique distinctions of having been a play-by-play announcer for all four major sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA). To the surprise of many, Albert said that hockey is the easiest one to call and if you don’t call baseball everyday, it will be a challenge.

“There are similarities to all 4, but also major differences. To me, hockey is the easiest and most people think it would be the hardest…On the radio, you have to be so descriptive and give the time and score a lot more often no matter what the sport is. Hockey, on radio in particular, you are just calling the game for 60 minutes. Football is the most rhythmic. Baseball to me is the most challenging if you don’t do it every day because there is so much down time in between pitches and you have to rely even more so on the analyst.”

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