SiriusXM has announced it has signed a multi-year deal with ESPN media personality and New York Times bestselling author Stephen A. Smith. Smith revealed the news during an appearance on “The Howard Stern Show” on SiriusXM on Wednesday morning, confirming he will host and executive produce two original shows set to debut in September.
As part of the new agreement, Smith will return to daily sports talk radio with a show airing weekdays on Mad Dog Sports Radio. The show will feature his trademark unfiltered takes and bold opinions on the day’s biggest sports headlines. It will join a lineup that includes the channel’s signature program, Mad Dog Unleashed, hosted by Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo—Smith’s frequent sparring partner on ESPN’s “First Take.”
“To say that I’m excited would be an understatement,” Smith said in a statement. “I’ve been on Mad Dog before, had the time of my life. So I’m loving the fact that I get to reunite with my guy, Mad Dog, on his turf. That, in itself, is a beautiful thing.”
In addition, Smith will launch a separate weekly program focused on current events, pop culture, and social commentary. The show will air on a non-sports SiriusXM channel to be announced in the coming months. This new platform will allow Smith to explore topics beyond the sports world, including politics, entertainment, and social issues.
Both programs will offer opportunities for listener interaction and will feature interviews with high-profile guests from various fields. As part of the deal, Smith will also host multiple live events exclusively for SiriusXM subscribers throughout the year.
“To then add a weekly show where I have a potent platform to discuss riveting subjects in the world of pop culture, politics and social commentary… let’s just say it doesn’t get any better than that,” said Smith.
Smith’s daily sports show will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 2. The weekly non-sports program will also debut in September, with an official date still to be announced.
“Stephen A. is a singular talent and one of the most influential voices in media today,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s president and chief content officer. “While so many people know him for his unparalleled sports commentary, his interests extend far beyond the borders of sports and into the worlds of politics, news, entertainment and so much more. SiriusXM gives him the unfiltered creative freedom to delve into any topic and allows him to showcase his unique talents and perspectives.”
Smith currently appears on ESPN’s First Take alongside Russo and Molly Qerim and serves as an analyst on NBA Countdown for both ESPN and ABC. He previously hosted radio shows for ESPN and Fox Sports Radio.
Before his rise in television and radio, Smith began his career in print journalism, working for outlets including the Winston-Salem Journal, Greensboro News and Record, New York Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer, where he spent 17 years covering the NBA and later serving as a general sports columnist.
In 2023, Smith released his bestselling memoir, Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes, sharing his personal journey for the first time.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
A few days after a podcast clip of Bill Simmons criticizing Pablo Torre for his recent reporting on University of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick and his relationship with Jordon Hudson surfaced on the internet, the two sports media personalities hashed out their apparent media beef. Torre, who was in Los Angeles, Calif. for the Peabody Awards, appeared on site at The Ringer podcast studios with Simmons, to whom he explained the logic behind investing time and resources into his investigative reporting surrounding the story. In addition, he acknowledged that he has devoted “a disturbing percentage” of his life to the narrative and acceded that Hudson was correct in informing him that he needed to find a new hobby.
Torre explained that the episodes of his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out, are done in a documentary-style manner where he essentially unboxes his journalism to friends, who react in real time to the findings. Katie Nolan and Michael Cruz Kayne appeared on the show and listened as Torre divulged he spoke with 11 sources who dealt with Hudson directly and discussed a variety of matters pertaining to her involvement in Belichick’s life. In his discussion with Simmons, he argued that the story was newsworthy since he is a public figure and has acted contrary to his overall character.
“I’m like, ‘Bill, you more than anyone else know why Bill Belichick is fascinating and why the archetype of him, who was the paragon of discipline, privacy, ‘Do your job,’ defensive strategy, public relations mastery,’” Torre outlined. “The guy had in his office at Gillette [Stadium], Sun Tzu ‘The Art of War,’ ‘The battle is won or lost before it even begins,’ and so just him as this unique archetype in American life, not just sports, but American life, that you personally, of course, have a deep understanding of. I’m told he’s the greatest coach of all time.”
Simmons referenced his podcast, The Rewatchables, in which he discusses compelling movies and talked about how he “used to obsess over a bunch of dumb sh*t and try to answer questions like this.” Torre challenged this assertion, however, contending that they both still do the same thing, which led Simmons to aver that it was the media tour that perturbed him more in this instance.
“It seemed like you were so serious about it,” Simmons said. “I was like, ‘Why is he treating this like Watergate? Ultimately, who f*****g cares that this guy is dating somebody who’s 50 years younger than him who wants to be on his work emails?’ Is this actually an important story or is this just a fun story to get clicks?”
Torre recognized that Simmons is not alone in that and it is a perception that has been cultivated through aggregation. On top of that, he talked about how Belichick is the highest-paid employee in the entire state of North Carolina and effectively using Hudson as a means to assimilate into public life. With all of the twists and turns of the narrative, Torre recognizes this as a story that touches on media, business, college sports, public money and the National Football League.
Later in the discussion, he referenced his reporting on whether or not Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James’ attended the funeral of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant. The reason he explored the story, which took place as James confronted ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith courtside at a Lakers game, was that it was being argued in public but not being reported. Torre also divulged that he explains the context and reasoning to assist people skeptical surrounding his ethics or motives in understanding his rationale.
“The ethics are one thing because you’re doing real reporting,” Simmons said. “The motives are where you open yourself up a little bit because from afar, somebody could look at it and go, ‘You’re just doing this because you want clicks,’ right, and I’m sure you’ve heard that.”
Torre feels that anyone who has ever created something online has heard these contentions, and he also believes in the episodes that they publish. Furthermore, he talked about a story surrounding why some inmates on death row shout their favorite sports teams as their last words that led to the podcast visiting a facility where he articulated that a man was unjustly sentenced due to police hypnosis. The podcast episode was nominated for a Peabody Award in the radio/podcast category by unanimous vote and featured reporting from correspondent David Fleming, and Simmons conjectured that the stories involving Belichick and James could be serving as bridges to compel people to keep listening to more content.
“I think the question of like, ‘What is journalism today?,’ to me, the fundamental question,” Torre said. “The difference and key distinction between gossip and journalism is that we are definitively saying, ‘We have reported this, and we believe based on all of these sources and facts and bits of research that it’s true.’ It’s not, ‘Ah, I heard this thing — might be true, might not be.’ No, we are rigorously investigating something in order to say, ‘We are here to publish this as true.’”
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
The 2025 BNM Summit presented by Newsmax already features a number of top news/talk on-air talent. Among them include Premiere Networks host and founder of TheBlaze, Glenn Beck, 77WABC morning man Sid Rosenberg, 710 WOR host Mark Simone, Compass Media Networks and WSB host Erick Erickson, and Salem Radio Network host Mike Gallagher. Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy is also joining us as a speaker.
Today, we’re shifting our attention to those leading news/talk radio’s best performing brands and networks. These are the men and women tasked with finding the next great talent, creating strategies to deliver high ratings, and working with sales and promotions to assure the best ideas create buzz and grow revenue.
It is my pleasure to welcome the following individuals to the 2025 BSM Summit lineup.
First, I am thrilled to welcome back iHeartmedia Executive Vice President of News, Talk and Sports programming, Chris Berry. Also returning are Audacy News/Talk format Vice President and KRLD Brand Manager Drew Anderssen, and WSB Director of Branding and Programming and the 2024 recipient of the Gold Standard in Programming award Ken Charles. Joining Chris, Drew and Ken is a newcomer to the Summit, and one the format’s top leaders, WGN Radio Vice President and General Manager Mary Sandberg Boyle.
Chris, Drew, Ken and Mary bring a wealth of knowledge and success to the Summit stage. They each have oversight over some of the top markets and companies in the industry. Our goal each year is to deliver a wide ranging agenda. We aim to explore issues facing talent, programmers, managers, executives, sales, digital, advertising, and technology in both audio and video. With Chris, Drew, Ken and Mary involved, I’m confident we’ll once again raise the bar at the Summit.
The 2025 BSM Summit takes place on September 3-4, 2025 in New York City at the Ailey Theater. Tickets are discounted until June 30th to $224.99 for media professionals. Prices increase to $324.99 on July 1st.
Additionally, all ticket buyers receive an invitation to ‘The Barrett Bash‘ on Thursday night September 4th at 1604 Broadway. The invite-only event is our special 10-year anniversary celebration bringing together professionals from the music, advertising, news, and sports media industries.
Brands interested in supporting the 2025 BNM Summit can learn more by contacting Stephanie Eads at Stephanie@BarrettMedia.com. To reserve a hotel room at our partner location (Park Central), visit BNMSummit.com. We look forward to seeing you in New York City in September!
Remember the good old days of sports conversation in sports media? Remember when the conclusion of the playoffs was always great sports entertainment you could discuss with your friends and share on social?
If you’ve been paying attention to sports media over the past week or so, there’s been more doom and gloom over what the conclusion of two of our four major sports might be. Statements from longstanding and respected voices in the industry are absolutely giving more reasons why not to watch the final seven-game series of either the NBA or the NHL.
I have an ask—a simple ask—for sports media over the next two weeks: can we just talk about the games, and not anything else? Is that possible?
I’ll admit, I don’t know a lot about any of the four teams in the two respective league finals. It’s not very often I schedule time to watch an Oklahoma City Thunder game, even if the MVP of the league is on the roster. If you can honestly say you canceled dinner plans this winter to watch Connor McDavid at all, I have a boat to sell you.
All that doesn’t mean I won’t watch. It’s the FINALS!
Media Has Traded the Game, for the Game Within the Game
Chances are, you've probably heard the word "market size" used when discussing the 2025 NBA Finals already.
But what if ratings concerns (or concern-trolling) and their impacts aren’t accurate? Or not precise enough, at least. pic.twitter.com/cbLfh7cTEz
I remember a day when I used to watch sports television and listen to sports radio for discussions on why I needed to watch or listen—discussions surrounding the matchups and storylines, all weaved in between.
Why I should be carving time out of my schedule to watch the Florida Panthers defend their Stanley Cup Championship against the Edmonton Oilers. Why I should be putting off a date night to check out Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers take on the Thunder.
Remember when the conversation surrounded the game?
Instead, during the final stretches of the conference finals in both leagues, the conversation in sports media was about small-market teams or teams with little to no national appeal.
I agree that the four teams aren’t exactly called Knicks, Lakers, Bruins, or Blackhawks. They’re not members of the Original Six, and they’re not household names. Unfortunately two things become more true when moments like this happen as the years have gone by.
Sports media used to focus on storylines, not market size.
Sports media used to focus on matchups, not television ratings.
Holes in the Ratings Argument
Do you think the NBA is worried about television ratings when they just signed massive television deals with Disney, Amazon, and NBC? Do you think the NHL is concerned with television ratings when they’ve had back-to-back Cup Finals featuring a Canadian team, after just signing a new Canadian television deal worth $7.7 billion?
Please, sports media—please!
In your world, I guess because Indiana and Oklahoma City are playing, we should turn it off because no one around the country will care. Wait a second—Edmonton’s not even an American team. America won’t care.
Forget that the MVP of the NBA will be playing for a championship. Ignore last year’s Conn Smythe winner, who lost in the Stanley Cup Final, trying to win his first Cup and Canada’s first in over 30 years. No need to watch an NBA title come to the state with the most basketball lore in the country. Stay away from a defending Stanley Cup champion’s chance to repeat in back-to-back seasons—it’s only been done four times in the past 35 years.
The sad part of this conversation is that sports media has focused on the games. Sports television has put an emphasis on the storylines. Sports pundits on radio have ignored the notion that teams don’t have national appeal.
How often did sports media focus on market size when the team from Columbus, OH beat the team from South Bend, IN? Or Ann Arbor, MI? Or Athens, GA?
Do you think for one second that any sports pundit said a word about market size when it came to the teams involved with the College Football Playoff? Of course not. But why with the NBA or the NHL? Is it because it’s professional sports vs. collegiate sports? College players are getting paid handsomely nowadays.
College football players come and go as fast as any professional players in free agency. To think any college football program has more household names than any NBA or NHL franchise left playing—you’re probably mistaken.
The other talking point that’s baffling: when did the success of a league’s finality come down to the television ratings of the last dance? It’s no secret that all television viewership collectively has gone down over the last 25 years—except for the NFL. Ratings and viewership have been down in the NBA, NHL, and MLB for half a century.
The World Series 25 years ago averaged 23.7 million viewers, while last year’s saw 15.1 million. Did anyone bag on Ohtani winning his first ring?
The NBA Finals 25 years ago averaged 16 million viewers, while last year’s saw 11.3 million. I bet Boston was up in arms with another championship.
The Stanley Cup Final 25 years ago averaged 4.87 million viewers, while last year’s saw 4.16 million. The best conclusion of the four major sports in a winner-take-all Game 7? Boring.
Do I need to say more?
MSFA: Making Sports Fun Again
A note to sports media over the next couple of weeks: have fun and encourage viewers to converse, engage, and watch the last chapters of these two leagues’ stories. There are plenty of storylines the average fan can latch onto. There are plenty of names to sell quality matchups against. There is plenty to say about small-market teams doing big things, because not everyone can be New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, or Philadelphia.
The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Final are a fantastic opportunity for fans of basketball and hockey to find new heroes. It’s an amazing moment to bring in new fans to the sport and engage in entertaining discussion both on air and online.
Sports bring people together, and these next two weeks should prove that point correct once again. Sports are fun, and sports media should get back to having fun—with championships on the line.
Give me Thunder in six, and Panthers in seven.
Game on!
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In programming, two key words guide me: experience and balance.
The first is a branding lesson. Whether it’s a store, website, app, or yes, a radio station, experience is everything. It’s why people come back. The music, the personalities, the commercials, and the imaging—each piece needs to come together to create a cohesive and engaging experience.
But let’s be clear: not all experiences are good. And unless you’re the only option in town—and let’s face it, “town” has gotten a lot bigger now that listeners can stream radio from anywhere—music and personalities alone won’t keep people coming back. Audiences are always looking for a better experience.
There are so many factors that contribute to that experience, and yet programmers often don’t dive deep into those elements to fine-tune what listeners are hearing. This isn’t a criticism. I know firsthand, as someone who has worked with and as a program director, that there are only so many hours in a day. When you’re covering multiple roles with limited support, touching every aspect of the listener experience becomes nearly impossible.
Creating a great Total Radio Experience is no small task. It’s like eating an elephant—one bite at a time. It starts with knowing your audience, knowing your market, having the right strategy, and executing with intention. Every element on the air deserves evaluation—from the music eras and flow to the station voice. More on the Urban Experience in a minute
So, how do you spot the things that might be turning listeners off? It’s actually pretty simple: start by asking yourself what annoys you about other radio stations. Then go a step further—talk to your listeners.
Here are a couple of examples I’ve experienced firsthand. When I started at a new station, I was chatting with a listener who said, “I like Usher too, but doesn’t he have any other songs besides the same one you keep playing?”
Another time, at a club event while helping the street team, I handed out a CD. A woman looked at me and said, “What am I supposed to do with this? I don’t even have anything to play it on.” That was 10 years ago, and almost immediately after that, we switched to giving out download codes.
Now, the other keyword: balance. You’ve heard it before—too much of anything is never a good thing. That’s especially true in radio. You’ve got to change things up. I’m not saying break the expectation your audience has of your brand, but find fresh ways to present a familiar experience.
Maybe that means throwing in an Anita Baker deep cut you haven’t played in a while, the latest Kendrick Lamar track, followed by the original from Luther. Little touches like these support your brand while keeping the experience fresh. Apathy and fatigue are the enemies of good radio.
And here’s the part I love most: The Urban Experience. It’s an experience like no other. Vibrant and dynamic. No two days are the same. There’s always something to talk about and so many perspectives to explore and incorporate in your programming.
What is The Urban Experience? It’s in the music. It’s in the conversation. But it’s so much more—and that’s what can’t be taught. It’s a perspective and a tone that can’t be faked or imitated. It’s a tapestry of unique personalities and dialogue connected by a shared cultural rhythm.
And that, more than anything, is what keeps me inspired.
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As Chris Fallica was approaching three decades working at ESPN, he began to feel that he was at his peak with the company. Having started out of college as a production assistant in radio and eventually landing a research role with College GameDay, he satisfied a distinctive niche and crafted an individual brand through an on-air position taking part in the show. By the time his contract expired, he was exploring opportunities with other entities and had a call with FOX Sports executive Brad Zager.
Fallica remembers Zager informing him that FOX Sports had rights to two of the next three Super Bowl championships, FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship and Belmont Stakes. ESPN used to hold some of these broadcast rights, and he valued being involved with the broadcasts in different capacities. In fact, he considered the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa to be the best thing in which he ever participated with the company. These chances to expand his portfolio as a wagering analyst, combined with a lucrative offer and ability to remain embedded in college football coverage, ultimately resulted in him making the move.
“It was funny. Even a couple of people mentioned to me, like, ‘This was good for you to go out there and kind of show that you can do some different things at FOX,'” said Fallica. “‘There are a lot of opportunities there that you didn’t necessarily have at ESPN.’”
Although Fallica appreciated landing the new job, one of his early concerns was transitioning to Big Noon Kickoff after spending years on an opposing college football road pregame show. ESPN College GameDay helped place Fallica as an on-air talent, granting him his ‘Bear’ nickname and immense credibility among viewers. While he had built relationships with those working on the show, he had the chance to reconnect with former colleagues and new industry professionals as he assimilated into Big Noon Kickoff. On top of that, Mark Ingram II was also in his first year with the show, allowing them to experience their rookie campaigns together and make the necessary adjustments.
“It’s kind of a small world getting back in touch with some people that you worked with in the past,” Fallica said. “The rapport with the guys has been great. It really is sitting around in the afternoon just after the show watching all the games, making fun of each other’s picks and yelling at the TV like a bunch of college football fans, which I think everybody can see that we really are.”
Lee Corso, the longtime College GameDay analyst on ESPN, is going to be retiring after 38 years on the program following Week 1 of the season. While Fallica no longer works with Corso directly, he still maintains contact with his former colleague and reminisces on the good times, feeling as a paternal figure who could put different circumstances and impediments in perspective. Fallica contributed to Super Bowl LIX coverage from New Orleans, La. last February, and shortly after he finished a segment, he heard from the award-winning broadcaster responsible for deriving his pseudonym.
“On the way back to the hotel, he called me and was like, ‘It was great to see you on the Super Bowl. I’m so happy to see you doing well. It’s so great – you deserve everything,’” Fallica recalls Corso telling him. “It was really, really cool just to see Lee and just the relationship we built throughout the years, and he still feels the same way about me that I do about him.”
Having experience working on rivaling college football pregame shows, Fallica has insights and perspectives pertaining to their similarities and differences. The FOX Sports pregame show leads directly into the dedicated early afternoon window oftentimes showcasing games featuring teams from power conferences such as the Big Ten and Big 12. Heading into the upcoming season, the company will open with a matchup featuring the reigning national champion Ohio State Buckeyes facing the Texas Longhorns. This will include an on-site broadcast of Big Noon Kickoff with anticipation as two heralded programs face off on the gridiron.
“It feels like everything just builds from 10 to 11 to when we move inside the stadium and I’m standing there on the sideline doing a hit, and then finally at noon and 12:10, you send it over to Gus, Jenny and Joel,” Fallica said. “It gives it kind of an urgent-type of feel where we get what we need to get out there in terms of the day and college football stories in general maybe before we move in.”
Part of what Fallica feels sets him apart is his authentic relatability, conveying that people can visualize him as participating in online chatrooms and engaging in spirited debates. He did not play college football nor did he secure a National Championship. On the contrary, Fallica studied broadcast journalism and history at the University of Miami while freelancing as a broadcast statistician, and he first worked professionally as an intern at WFAN. Even though he would preferably see his alma mater do well, he does not hesitate to vocalize criticisms.
“Now it seems like people see FOX as the Big Ten agenda, and when I was at ESPN, people see ESPN as the SEC agenda,” Fallica said. “I don’t care – it doesn’t matter to me. You go back to last year – I’ll talk about Indiana [making] it with a non-conference schedule that’s not deserving to be in, and at the same time, Alabama and Ole Miss, you know what? Don’t lose to Kentucky at home, don’t lose to Vanderbilt. So I’m not afraid to just kind of speak my mind on any of these topics.”
Fallica first started taking part in wagering discussions while he was a member of College GameDay, and it has been a focus of his role with FOX Sports. The proliferation of this content has occurred as more states have moved to legalize sports betting. Remaining objective is one of the challenges associated with the craft, and Fallica tries not to hold grudges against those who underperform.
“You just kind of need to [go], ‘Okay, I got beat. I could laugh about it,’” Fallica said. “Maybe you made a bad pick, maybe someone played bad, and then just kind of, ‘They’ll be a next time, and we’ll have to just get them then,’ but yeah. Just being subjective and just kind of clearing your mind of things that have happened in the past is vital, and that along with money management in terms of betting are the two things that I think people struggle with the most.”
How to Weave Wagering Into Entertainment
Whenever Fallica is providing suggestions for betting on a college football game, he is trying to render the content relatable to experts and novices alike. At the start of a week, he will look at the lines and try to discover potential underdogs that could prove to be victorious. Fallica keeps up with trends and communicates such details to the audience through a variety of forums on linear television and digital platforms. On top of that, he provides intel surrounding other sporting events aside from football games, including the upcoming Belmont Stakes taking place from Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York.
“My preparation for the Belmont horse racing this week is pretty much the same way I would attack any day that I’m just looking to handicap races,” Fallica said. “[I] just kind of go through the form and look for certain angles and remember some races that I may have been involved with in the past and just kind of talk about [it] from how I interpret the past performances.”
FOX Sports is preparing to broadcast the final leg within the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing for the third time under an eight-year pact with the New York Racing Association. After ‘Sovereignty’ won the Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs last month, the horse did not compete in the Preakness Stakes to protect long-term interests. Junior Alvarado is expected to ride the thoroughbred in the race this weekend, taking on Preakness winner ‘Journalism’ and six other horses. Nonetheless, Fallica is excited for the challenge of involving casual fans and disseminating his wagering insights on the airwaves.
“I used to sit around on the GameDay bus at the time and have the racing form out, and I’d have a little screen on the lower left with the TVG on there, and Kirk [Herbstreit] and everyone would kind of make fun of me until Kirk started to kind of get the itch to get involved with horses too, and then he [understood] what I was doing,” Fallica explained. “I can’t wait to get up there and get after it for a couple days.”
More College Football, Please
With the expanded College Football Playoff and hastened momentum to potentially progress towards a 16-team format, Fallica hopes to find a way to contribute to such coverage once again. Concurrent with a possible expansion, he also would like to see if FOX could become involved in potentially covering a game within the proceedings. Since the Big Ten Conference is among the largest partners for FOX, Fallica is also interested in potentially airing a Big Noon-style preview show from a college campus.
“The college football sport is evolving and changing so much that, we don’t even know some of the things that are going to be happening this year with the Playoff,” Fallica said. “They can’t seem to really come to an agreement on what’s going to happen, so maybe that’s something to look forward to in the future as well.”
Although the start of college football is just over two months away, Fallica is continuing to communicate his valuable knowledge and shrewd perspectives through digital forums. Leveraging his background in research and passion for sports, he has maintained relatability to the fans and evinces his good fortune in adjusting to being in front of the camera and continuing to receive opportunities. For now though, he is focused on the Belmont Stakes and the storylines that will unfold from Saratoga.
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If you look at the ratings information for CNN from Nielsen…things are not good. Except for when Scott Jennings is on.
Jennings is a regular contributor to CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip, the program that airs at 10 PM ET.
And routinely, his appearances create headlines and go viral. From both sides of the political aisle. While I would generally denounce such partisan hackery — by the way, any tweet that includes the phrase “Retweet if you agree!” is poppycock — being able to embolden one side to say that you have “owned” someone, while the other side says you got “torched” in the same clip is a skill.
Scott Jennings creates interesting and compelling television virtually every time I see him on the screen. Whether he’s serving as a token Republican voice in staunch support of his ideals or playing the comedic foil in a less-than-serious segment, I can’t help but wait with heated anticipation for what he’s going to say next.
I’m an on-the-record hater of the “everything in television now must include conflict” style that permeates both sports and news television. We have “embraced debate” long enough, dang it.
But it might be time that I change my tune. Because the conflict Scott Jennings brings to CNN is both refreshing and entertaining.
The network has to do something to spice things up. For the week of May 19th, CNN averaged 386,000 total viewers in primetime. That’s the lowest figure the network has seen all year, and if you’ll remember, it started 2025 with headlines about historic low viewership.
The lack of audience at the venerable network is a certified problem. I’ve seen the way out.
No, Scott Jennings doesn’t need his own show. That doesn’t suit his strengths. He’s a reactor. He needs a sparring partner. That is what CNN should lean into.
If the network has any hopes of returning to its news roots, it doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. The days of a show like Larry King Live — what we know today simply as “virtually every celebrity interview podcast ever — working are long gone.
CNN — in my very humble, obviously correct opinion — needs to resurrect the Crossfire format. Is there anything in the cable news sphere like that former show today? No, absolutely not.
Furthermore, in a left vs right, right vs left cable news landscape, where does CNN fit in? Fox News has a firm grasp on conservatives, while CNN is getting more than doubled by MSNBC, which caters to the left. Finding a lane is paramount. And that lane, could be — should be? — being the home of great debates, conversations, and knock-down-drag-out brawls between conservatives and liberals.
Put Scott Jennings (and truthfully, not always Scott Jennings, because it would get stale after a while) on a desk opposite someone like David Pakman, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, Keith Olbermann, pick your favorite liberal pundit, or some former member of Congress who has some debate chops and can think on the fily, and you’d have immediate sparks.
Original content wins. Fox News has original content. MSNBC has original content. CNN has…who, as its major star? Anderson Cooper? Abby Phillip? Kaitlan Collins?
In today’s primetime cable news world, well-written monologues, sharp opinions, and high-profile interviews win the day. CNN doesn’t really have anyone who does any of those superbly. The network has — justifiably so — hung its hat on Big J journalists in primetime. And look where that has gotten it.
Leaning into provocative opinionists like Scott Jennings can be an avenue for the network to not only regain its foothold but to thrive.
But you know what else also wins? Debates. Now, obviously Donald Trump is a different animal when it comes to debates. But debates drive intrigue and tune-in. When Fox News featured a sit-down between Sean Hannity and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), people tuned in. When there were Republican Presidential Primary debates without Trump, people still tuned int.
If you can lean into it and leverage it on a somewhat regular basis, don’t you believe that an audience would be there?
When you look at the criticism of CNN, what are the key points people make? “It’s biased.” Yeah, well, it’s cable news. Find me a network that isn’t biased. “They don’t showcase any conservative viewpoints.” With someone like Scott Jennings featured more prominently, you won’t hear that pushback any longer. “The hosts are all liberal.” When your hosts are playing point guard and simply setting up the pundits and analysts to smash it out of the park, no one will care about the political leanings of your hosts.
Furthermore, what’s the largest criticism of political discourse today? “People don’t talk to one another. Everyone is in a silo.” Well break the silos down. Force Republicans and Democrats to come to the table with ideas and let viewers decide. As much as we like having our viewpoints reinforced, we like watching trainwreck drama even more. CNN can and should create that drama and conflict, because Jennings sure isn’t shy about generating it.
Is it counterintuitive to put your resources into high-profile contributors rather than hosts who are designed to be stars? Yeah, a little, truthfully. But CNN is in a situation where it has to do something different. It can’t simply sit back and find itself relegated to third place in the cable news sphere, slowly withering on the vine.
Scott Jennings — and others like him — can be what catapults CNN back in the conversation. I can’t even say back to the top of the cable news world because that would feel like attempting to eat an elephant. But how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That first bite needs to include a shift in strategy. And that strategy should revolve around identifying talent like Scott Jennings to help reinvigorate the brand.
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NBC News anchor Lester Holt may very well be the last of a dying breed in the evening news business.
On Friday, Holt said goodbye to the Nightly News chair he has commanded for ten years. Praised for his hard work, on-the-ground reporting, and coverage of international events poured in, many giving him an A-plus for his friendly demeanor.
But Holt’s decision to walk away from what was once the most visible and celebrated job in network news underscores a sharp shift in television culture. Once, evening anchors were highly paid celebrities and would never leave the post voluntarily. Now, those occupying the chair — as opposed to the more lucrative morning shows — are lesser paid and lower-profile, sometimes even obscure.
Holt, 66, was succeeded Monday at Nightly by Tom Llamas. The 45-year-old son of Cuban refugees, who joined NBC in 2021 after serving as ABC’s weekend anchor, may be a highly competent journalist — he’s won multiple Emmys — but honestly, how many people in America have heard of him?
It’s a far cry from Katie Couric’s splashy $15-million debut as CBS anchor, an experiment that ended badly. When CBS — after the departure of Norah O’Donnell, who also chose to walk away — gave her chair to veteran journalist John Dickerson, the network paired him with Maurice DuBois, who was not known even by many in the TV business outside the New York area.
Holt is moving full-time to NBC’s magazine show Dateline, where he has been an anchor since 2011. Holt says he is looking forward to “doing more reporting” and “slowing down a bit.” Now Holt will get to work on a single story months in advance.
“For 45 years, I’ve been answering the bell. Breaking news, mass shootings, and just horrific things,” Lester Holt said. Addressing his step back from the post, he said, “It’s life-changing and it’s life-changing for your family, too. People at these moments say I want to spend more time with my family. It’s true.”
The prominent, traditionally-styled network news anchor like Holt is slowly disappearing in the era of 24/7 media consumption. Gone are the days of the “Big Three” anchors as the main news broadcasters. NBC’s Tom Brokaw, ABC’s Peter Jennings, and CBS’s Dan Rather dominated the airwaves in the 80s and 90s, before cable and the internet, not to mention streaming and podcasting, transformed the television landscape.
The Big Three newscasts still reach a sizable audience of roughly 18 million viewers combined, but nothing like in the Cronkite era, when a vast swath of the audience would tune in at 6:30. Cable news now instantly covers anything that can be hyped as “breaking news” and smothers it in raw opinion, from left and right.
I’m not a big evening news watcher, although I will dip in and out on occasion. And I remember the 80s, fondly watching them every day for a set period of time. Now I flip around all day on cable nets and it can feel like overload. My finger isn’t far from the mute button.
I first met Lester Holt during Pope Francis’s first visit to the United States in 2015. While I was working with the Pope’s team,Holt was one of the first people to greet me and my family. He couldn’t have been nicer, asking about my job and my son’s interests. He had a calm about him that was grounding.
Almost like a bookend to his career, Holt recently met Pope Leo XIV in Rome as he was anointed as the leader of the Catholic Church. These are just two examples of the anchor’s pervasive presence at big stories. When news happened, NBC News made sure Holt was there planting a flag. Just like in olden days.
Holt came up through the ranks from local news reporter, joining MSNBC in 2000 as a correspondent, and worked his way to weekend anchor, fill-in anchor, and ultimately the first Black male solo anchor of a weeknight evening newscast. He was also a principal anchor at Dateline.
He earned these jobs slowly, with journalistic chops, paying his dues and winning awards along the way. Holt isn’t perfect; his moderation of a 2016 presidential debate that spun out of control was widely criticized.
On Llamas’s first evening at the top of the broadcast, he didn’t mention his transition to permanent anchor. It wasn’t until the end that he spent a grand total of 12 seconds addressing his new role.
“That’s it for Nightly News, my first as the anchor of this great broadcast. My thanks to all of you as we start this new adventure together,” he stated. And in what may turn out to be his tagline, he said, “Tonight and always, we’re here for you.”
A commercial promoting Llamas appeared during the broadcast, and a New York Times ad online showed rapid-fire images of David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Brian Williams, and Holt morphing into Llamas. It seems odd that there wasn’t a bigger publicity splash, though Llamas did a Q&A with The Washington Post. Llamas’s demeanor during the show seemed to give off the vibe that he just wanted to get through it without taking any risks.
The big-time anchor breed isn’t quite dead yet. The top-rated evening news anchor is ABC’s David Muir, who came up the old-fashioned way, through local news, and has also reported from around the globe.
Muir told People magazine, “I remember being outside, playing with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood and being the only kid who would go inside when the local news came on, and then watching Peter Jennings, who I thought was sort of the James Bond of the evening news, the globetrotter.”
Unlike Holt and O’Donnell, Muir, 51, sounds like he’s holding onto that chair for as long as humanly possible. Hey, Dan Rather is still working at 93.
Holt admits he will miss the deadline pressure, and a highlight reel shown on his program on his last night shows that he enjoys playing the upright bass.
As he signed off Friday, he repeated his signature parting words to the audience, “Take care of yourself and each other.”
Lester Holt is lucky: he had a long run and now gets to slow down, but not leave the game. Others will face more difficult choices with such a fragmented audience. The era of what were once fearfully called “anchor-monsters” is drawing to a close.
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Shortly after the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks to advance to the NBA Finals, the award-winning studio program Inside the NBAsigned off TNT for the final time. Warner Bros. Discovery is no longer going to be airing NBA live game broadcasts in the United States, but the show featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Shaquille O’Neal will live on under a sublicensing agreement through which it will air on ESPN. Although TNT Sports is going to continue producing the show, Michelle Beadle believes that the program could undergo seminal change becoming more embedded in the ESPN ecosystem.
During a recent edition of Beadle and Decker on SiriusXM Mad Dog Sports Radio, Beadle explained how she tends to agree with a recent point raised by Bill Simmons about the program. Simmons, a former ESPN employee in addition to Beadle, conveyed that ESPN is going to mess the show up unless the network changes how they do commercials. Beadle formerly hosted NBA Countdown for parts of four years and echoed a similar sentiment about the manner in which the network runs its clocks.
“Our segments were laughably short, and there was no postgame, so laughably short, and when you have a four-person panel that basically allows for each person – you set up the question, and maybe, maybe, everybody gets a sentence in,” Beadle said. “Maybe. That is vastly different.”
Cody Decker, a former outfielder for the San Diego Padres, expressed that ESPN would implement the ESPN BET platform operated by PENN Entertainment into the show as well, claiming that there would be no choice. Decker also articulated that every one of them was going to be very annoying and imparted that the show was perfect as it is. Beadle divulged that she does not watch any other studio programs and usually does something else during halftime of NBA games, but she is making an exception towards Inside the NBA for now.
“I will give it a shot or two, but if it starts to just reek of the brand for which it now airs, then unfortunately, this goodbye that we just had a couple days ago will be the goodbye, and I hope that’s not what happens because I’ll be sad if we don’t get to see those guys anymore, but I won’t be able to watch,” Beadle said. “I don’t watch ESPN’s halftime – I cannot stomach that person on there – and so if that is what they’re going to do, if they’re going to put that person on everything, then I guess I’m done with studio shows, which is crazy to say out loud as a sports fan.”
Decker offered an alternative, raising the possibility that if ESPN tries to interfere with the program through pushing the betting product or including Stephen A. Smith on the panel, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal could push back in real time. If this were to be the case, it would be “must-viewing television” to see what would concurrently transpire.
“Because it’s still as, as far as I know, being produced sort of like with the same crews and everything, then maybe we luck out and they sort of leave them alone the way they’ve kind of left alone like anything that that’s under done under the Manning umbrella – I believe they leave Pat McAfee alone – like there are certain entities that have come in and not been bothered,” Beadle said. “So if that’s the case, then perhaps, maybe, we have a shot.”
"I'm gonna give it one shot."@MichelleDBeadle & @Decker6 express their concerns about the future of 'Inside The NBA.'
— Mad Dog Sports Radio (@MadDogRadio) June 3, 2025
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The New York Knicks made headlines just days following their dismissal from the Eastern Conference Finals by announcing that head coach Tom Thibodeau will no longer be with the organization. Consequently, this caused a wave of massive shockwaves through the world of sports media, with reactions coming in near and far after Thibodeau led his Knicks to the playoffs in four of five seasons at the helm. Among these reactions, there was no bigger and boisterous response than the voice of Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, who was heard shouting out of his lungs in his disapproval of the firing on SiriusXM radio.
“Anybody who knows anything about basketball knows that Indiana had better players and more of them than the Knicks did,” shouted Russo. “This is such a ridiculous and such a stupid firing.”
Russo pointed his ire at Knicks executive chairman James Dolan, noting that this firing is not fair because of the success Thibodeau achieved, especially recently.
“(Leon) Rose doesn’t have any power there, Dolan does,” exclaimed Russo. “He sits on the baseline with a dopey hat on, thinking that he knows something, but he wouldn’t even know who George Mikan is. He knows nothing. He’s there because his own man was a brilliant businessman, and he took over. That’s what this is all about.”
Furthermore, the impassioned Russo continued his rant, saying he would be embarrassed if he was a New York Knicks fan today. He continued to implore that Dolan should be the one who should hold a press conference to face questions about this move.
“This is not fair what they did to this guy. Who gave his life and blood to the franchise and took him to the conference finals. They haven’t been there since 2000,” screamed Russo. “My God Almighty! And you get him out because you lost a raw, rugged six game series to Indiana? Oh, come on, please. What a disgrace.”
Meanwhile, the search for the next head coach of the New York Knicks will begin just two days before the NBA Finals begin between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Mad Dog Russo losing his mind over Dolan firing Thibs.
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