Nobody could have gotten this perfect. But Salem came about as close as a company reasonably could. It walked a genuinely difficult line, balancing unfathomable grief against legitimate business obligations.
"ESPN doesn't deserve to get Karl Ravech for a discount or for free. He worked there for a really long time, and shows his loyalty to that company. This to me feels like that's being exploited."
"The network also adds former pitcher Adam Ottavino as both a game and studio analyst, continuing a relationship that began with guest appearances in recent years."
"The ESPN family has been special to me, and I can’t wait to watch some more baseball, be more involved. Especially an environment like this. It's special."
"I’m extraordinarily lucky to work with a team of great reporters, editors, producers, hosts and analysts. And I can’t wait to deliver an entirely new kind of baseball show for those who love the best game in the world."
"Many stories captured headlines, but ESPN's decision to go direct-to-consumer easily topped the list as the most important sports television story of 2025."
"This fan-friendly agreement allows us to showcase the great sport of baseball on both a local and national level, while prioritizing our streaming future"
"Across 11 games, ESPN networks averaged 4,625,000 viewers, marking the most-watched Wild Card Series under the current format and a 64 percent increase from last year"
"This is the biggest season yet for ESPN, and Apple Music is perfect to help carry that energy from Monday Night Football all the way through to the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show.”