Sports Media With Richard Deitsch

Episode 21 of the Sports Media Podcast features Renee Young, who was recently named as a fulltime commentator on Monday Night Raw, the WWE’s flagship show. Young is the first woman to hold that position. In the podcast, Young discusses why her six-year run at WWE has worked out as well as it has; how she found about getting the Raw job from Michael Cole, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Vince McMahon; what her process is like to prepare for Monday Night Raw; how much she is aware of specific match activity versus storyline/backstory;  how NXT helped develop her as an announcer; what her WWE audition was like; how her real-life will or will not impact what viewers will hear from her if Dean Ambrose (her real-life husband) is appearing on RAW; what makes Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman such great performers; how Heyman has helped her since her early days with WWE; which people in the company she hangs with while on the road; her newfound love of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights; why The Shield would beat the nW

Episode 21 of the Sports Media Podcast features four guests. The first segment is a roundtable with Black Sports Online founder and editor Robert Littal and Newsday sports columnist and reporter Neil Best. In the podcast, the three of us discuss what CBS, Fox, ESPN, and NBC have in store for you this year when it comes to the NFL; the changes we are most curious about regarding the networks that air NFL games; how the networks will cover the intersection of social justice and football; our thoughts on how the Colin Kaepernick/Nike story has played out over the first few days; opportunism in the sports media and cable television regarding Kaepernick; the new ESPN Monday Night Football booth and much more. The next segment features Scott Hanson, the longtime host of of NFL RedZone, as well as co-host of NFL Network’s NFL Total Access along with Lindsay Rhodes. We discuss why people are interested in the NFL Red Zone; who he envisions is his audience; how many people watch; the changes to this year’s production;

Episode 21 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. The first segment is a roundtable with Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand and Black Sports Online founder and editor Robert Littal. In the podcast, the three of us discuss Jemele Hill leaving ESPN; what it means for the ESPN brand; why it happened; how much of it the decision was tied to Hill’s suspension last October or new ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro; what it says that ESPN’s most prominent African-American female voice has left the company; Michelle Beadle leaving Get Up! to return to Los Angeles for added basketball responsibilities; Fox’s foray into Thursday Night Football; whether college football viewership will be hurt by a summer of scandal; the future of ESPN’s The Undefeated and more. The third guest is Ryan Glasspiegel of The Big Lead website. We discuss Glasspiegel’s breaking the story of Beadle leaving Get Up!; why he thinks it happened; whether there is any relationship to Beadle’s comments about no longer watching footba

Episode 20 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: The first is ESPN insider Adam Schefter, who is the author (along with SI’s Michael Rosenberg) of a new book, “The Man I Never Met: A Memoir.” The second guest is WNBA All-Star forward Chiney Ogwumike, who works as an ESPN host and commentator away from professional basketball.    In this podcast Schefter discusses his new book, which is about how his life intersected with Joe Maio, who worked at Cantor Fitzgerald and died on Sept. 11, 2011 at the World Trade Center; why he decided to write a book about his wife’s late husband; how to write something so personal; revealing personal details about his life including the failure of his first marriage; what his wife and children, including Joe’s son who was 27 months old when Joe died; thought about the book; visiting the 9-11 site; how ESPN’s reset of its NFL relationship impacts him; what teams are the most forthcoming or transparent; the most interesting story this year in the N

Episode 19 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand and MLB Network and Fox Sports MLB analyst John Smoltz.   In this podcast, Ourand discusses ESPN’s new weekly lineup changes and recommitment to SportsCenter; the end of SportsNation; why Ourand thinks the move to 4:00 p.m. ET is good for High Noon; the run on global soccer rights for streaming entities such as ESPN+ and B/R; whether out-of-home-viewership stats has any business significance for networks and why Fox pushed it for the World Cup; Keith Olbermann’s turn as baseball caller for ESPN; the anger from some that ESPN has employed Olbermann, and much more;   Smoltz discusses why he decided to pursue broadcasting following the conclusion of his playing career in 2009; the role of a baseball broadcast in 2018; how he prepares for a studio show versus a game broadcast and which one challenges him more; how he looks at the role of analytics for both the studio and the booth; w

Episode 18 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features guest Rebecca Lowe, the host of NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage, including Premier League Live, as well as an Olympic host for the network. In this podcast Lowe discusses her broadcasting comfort level as she heads into her sixth year working Stateside for NBC; how she manages the tricky logistics of her working schedule including raising a toddler in Northern California; the challenges of doing studio work onsite from the U.K.; how she approaches her future following the conclusion of her contract in 2022; navigating her attachment to the Crystal Palace football club while covering the Premier League; what she and Kate Abdo leading soccer packages in the U.S. means if anything; the impact of the 2026 World Cup in North America; why she has never seen Game of Thrones or most of the Star Wars films; how relegation would be an incredible thing for MLS; the difference between pants and trousers, and much more. You can subscribe to th

Episode 17 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features college football reporter Brett McMurphy, who this week broke a major story on his Facebook account regarding charges from Courtney Smith, the ex-wife of a longtime assistant of Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer. Smith called into question Meyer’s claims he was unaware of a 2015 allegation of domestic abuse against the assistant. In this podcast, McMurphy discusses the timeline of his reporting; how he first contacted Smith; why Smith spoke on the record with McMurphy; what Smith’s reaction was to McMurphy’s questions; the duration of those interviews with Smith, the paper trail that McMurphy tracked down for his reporting including law enforcement records; why he broke this story on Facebook, why he could not write this for another publication because of his current contractual situation with ESPN; his expectations on how many people would read his story, what breaking the story on Facebook says about the traditional mantra that subjec

Episode 16 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features three guests: First, a candid conversation with longtime NBA writer and broadcaster Frank Isola, who was let go this week by Tronc after 25 years of working at the New York Daily News. The second guest is Clifton Brown, an enterprise reporter at the IndyStar and the author of Bearing the Cross: My Inspiring Journey from Poverty to the NFL and Sports Television. The final guest is Sports Illustrated senior writer Ben Reiter, the author of a new book, Astroball: The New Way To Win It All.   In this podcast, Isola, the co-host of SiriusXM NBA Radio’s “The Starting Lineup,” and an ESPN TV contributor, discusses how he learned he had lost his longtime job with the Daily News; the impact off the decision on his family; why he feels it happened; what management has said and not said to him; how he feels about the newspaper business in New York City; what it has been like working at a paper with significant financial troubles; his years covering t

Episode 15 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: First, a sports media conversation with James Andrew Miller, the best-selling author of books on CAA, ESPN and Saturday Night Live. The second guest is Conrad Thompson, the host of three immensely popular wresting podcasts: Something to Wrestle (with Bruce Pritchard); 83 Weeks (with Eric Bischoff) and What Happened When (with Tony Schiavone)   In this podcast, Miller discusses ESPN’s current relationship with the NFL under new president Jimmy Pitaro versus its relationship under former President John Skipper; the role of the ESPYs in the ESPN universe and why criticism might be unfair; whether journalism at ESPN will be supported by Pitaro or whether ESPN reporters should be concerned; the future of Outside The Lines; whether Pitaro would do a content deal with Barstool Sports or a company such as Barstool; the futures of Keith Olbermann and Chris Berman at ESPN; and much more. Thompson discusses the process of how he does each

Episode 14 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: Sports Business Daily media reporter John Ourand and women’s basketball broadcaster and podcaster LaChina Robinson. In this podcast, Ourand discusses his reporting on the deal ESPN signed for UFC rights and the deal Fox signed for WWE Smackdown; how each deal came together; why ESPN was interested in UFC and where the programming will run; whether UFC has growth potential as a broadcast property; whether ESPN will examine the UFC with a journalism eye or merely as a promotional partner; how and why Fox came to get the WWE; whether Fox will use its FS1 debate shows to promote WWE; the economic calculations of both deals; how the World Cup viewership declines should be analyzed; the 2026 World Cup deal for Fox, and much more; Robinson discusses her myriad of jobs in women’s basketball including working for ESPN, Fox Sports, Raycom’s ACC women’s basketball, the Atlanta Dream, and espnW; the challenges of forging a career broadcastin

Episode 13 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features three separate guests: Tania Ganguli, who covers the Lakers for the Los Angeles Times; Sports Illustrated national NBA writer Lee Jenkins, and Dave McMenamin, an NBA reporter for ESPN. The theme of the podcast is the media impact of LeBron James moving from Cleveland to Los Angeles.   In this podcast, Ganguli discusses how James coming to the Lakers impacts her job and why; how she learned of James coming to the Lakers; whether there is added pressure now in her role; her previous contact with James as a beat writer; the added interest in James content among her bosses L.A. Times; how competitive she expect the beat to be now with James there; whether the Lakers will make additional moves later this summer, and much more. Jenkins discusses how he viewed the manner in which James announced this move; the most interesting part of James’s move nationally; whether access will change now that James is in L.A.; attempting to contact James after

Episode 12 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features Molly Sullivan, the popular television sideline reporter on Philadelphia 76ers games who was unexpectedly let go last week by NBC Sports Philadelphia after six years on the job. In this podcast, Sullivan describes in frank terms what happens when you lose your sports media job unexpectedly; what NBC Sports Philadelphia told her about its decision and what they didn’t tell her; how Sixers fans have started a petition on her behalf; covering a team for years that was the worst in the NBA and the challenges of covering a losing team; her on-air relationship with Sixers star Joel Embiid; Sixers coach Brett Brown reaching out to her after he heard she was let go; what she expects from the Sixers heading forward; what she hopes to do next; her thoughts on the Bryan Colangelo story; competing at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in distance swimming, and much more. The second part of the podcast is a roundtable with Sports Business Daily assistant

Episode 11 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests. First up is ESPN Adnan Virk, who hosts multiple studio shows in multiple sports and is the host of “Cinephile: The Adnan Virk Movie Podcast.” In this podcast Virk goes deep into how an sports broadcaster in his position deals with a contract negotiation; at what point his agent started negotiating an extension at ESPN; the anxiety of not getting an offer prior to the end of a contract; how to get a sense of what money to ask for; the role of broadcast agents and their importance; how to know what to ask for in terms of salary and beyond; the impact of what others at an organization have on your contract negotiations; the role of relationships with your bosses when it comes to contract negotiations; how he ended up getting tennis opportunities into his new contract; the impact of Mo Salah on the Muslim community; being mistaken for former NHL All Star Chris Chelios, and much more. The second guest is Calvin Watkins, who was recent

Episode 10 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand and Boston Globe media writer Chad Finn, and a one-on-one conversation with Washington Post Capitals reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan. In this podcast, Ourand and Finn discusses the 2026 World Cup being awarded to the U.S., Canada and Mexico and what that means for English-speaking rights-holder Fox Sports; the impact of Fox Sports getting the 2026 tournament without an open bid; the perception of Fox Sports when it comes to its golf and global soccer coverage; Comcast’s attempts for the assets owned by 21st Century Fox and what that would mean for two dozen regional sports networks  owned by Fox Sports; the 2018 NBA Finals viewership; what the NBA offseason means for interest in the sport among rightsholders; whether LeBron James will head to Boston, and much more. Khurshudyan discusses covering a Stanley Cup champion; why the Caps celebration has gone national; how much being fl

Episode 9 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features a conversation with Charissa Thompson, the host of Fox NFL Kickoff and NFL Films Presents on FS1. In this podcast, Thompson discusses why she decided to re-sign with Fox Sports; having conversations with ESPN host Mike Greenberg about working on a morning show with him; having her private photos hacked and leaked online, and the incomprehensible invasion of privacy; the aftermath of that invasion; how she is going about trying to get justice and why that is important; how her parents taught her to focus on how you get up from adversity; why Ryen Russillo has been housesitting at her guest; getting adjusted to a certain level of fame; whether Top Gun 2 is a good idea; her approach on social media when it comes to politics; gambling on sports and going to the race track with her grandfather, Seattle getting hockey, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 8 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features a conversation with Grant Wahl, a Sports Illustrated senior writer and Fox Sports soccer reporter. In this podcast, Wahl discusses how to cover a World Cup, which Wahl will be doing for the next six weeks in Russia, how much access reporters get at a World Cup; racism at a World Cup setting; how Fox will approach its World Cup studio shows; writing the first SI cover story on LeBron James; buying LeBron and his friends dinner at Applebees; his predictions for the Group Stage including Argentina losing in the opening round; why he likes Spain to win over Belgium, the state of soccer journalism in the United States; ESPN’s impact on global soccer; whether it is important to have American voices calling the World Cup and much more. The second guest is Julie Kliegman, a copy editor for The Ringer who has written about the state of mental health care in the NBA for that publication. In this podcast, Kliegman discusses how she went about reporting

Episode 7 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features a conversation on ESPN’s present and future with Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand and a roundtable with Boston Globe media writer Chad Finn, and Robert Littal, the founder and editor of Black Sports Online. In this podcast, Ourand discusses Wall Street Journal reporter Shalini Ramachandran’s examination of ESPN’s current business, the tension between Disney Chairman Robert Iger and former ESPN president John Skipper; whether ESPN’s front-facing talent has been given too much leeway on issues of politics and social justice; how the piece examined Skipper’s regime; the concern ESPN execs have on political talk; where Ourand stands on the money spent for NBA rights; the declines of other networks in number of households; ESPN’s potential interest in hockey; whether debate is in decline and what Ourand thinks of the upcoming ESPN show, High Noon and a long discussion on ESPN re-hiring of Keith Olbermann. Finn and Littal discuss the

Episode 6 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features ESPN play by play announcer Joe Tessitore, who was recently named the lead voice of Monday Night Football. In the podcast, Tessitore discusses in-depth how over the course of a six-week period in March and April, he auditioned 12 potential Monday Night Football analyst candidates at ESPN’s Bristol, Ct. headquarters; how he approached the audition process; the memorable audition of Jason Witten which included Witten playing football with his son on his front lawn; why Witten landed the job; why he thinks Witten will be successful; his thoughts on other applicants including Jared Allen, Brett Favre, Greg Olson, Louis Riddick, Rex Ryan, Joe Thomas, and Kurt Warner; the plans for the crew for the spring and summer; his friendship with Booger McFarland and why he thinks McFarland will be great in the field analyst role; the best kind of calamari, and much more.   The second guest is Richard Sandomir, the the author of "The Pride of the Yankees:

Episode 5 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features Peter King who will be leaving Sports Illustrated on June 1—his 29-year anniversary of being hired by SI—for a new job with NBC Sports in July. In the podcast King discusses why he left SI; how he came to the decision; how SI offered him more money to stay; where he stands on the future of Sports Illustrated and The MMQB; his response to criticism of being an access-oriented, league-friendly NFL reporter; why he writes about political issues in his column; what his role will be at NBC Sports; his thoughts on Jason Witten being hired for Monday Night Football; the future of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick; how legalized sports gambling will impact the NFL; NFL cheerleader gender-discrimination complaints; why the Browns drafted Baker Mayfield, and much more.   The podcast concludes with two roundtables. The first features Boston Globe media writer Chad Finn, and Robert Littal, the founder and editor of Black Sports Online. In this roundtable, F

Episode 4 of the Sports Media podcast with Richard Deitsch features Doris Burke, the acclaimed ESPN broadcaster who called a full season of NBA games as an color analyst for the first time in 2017-18; and Cheryl Reeve, the head coach and General Manager of the Minnesota Lynx. Under Reeve, the Lynx have won four titles in the last seven years. In this podcast, Burke discusses calling the NBA for a full season as a color analyst; her anxiety over her current contract coming to an end on Oct. 31; why she says she and ESPN will work out a deal for the long-term; calling the Sixers-Celtics series; how she currently feels about working as a sideline reporter after doing a season as an analyst; whether she has let her bosses know if she is interested in joining ESPN’s top NBA team should Mark Jackson get an NBA job; the impact of Kara Lawson, Sarah Kustok, and Stefanie Ready on NBA broadcasting; how she viewed Allie LaForce’s question to LeBron James; her feelings on how Gregg Popovich treats sideline reporter; her