Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Episode 498 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Charlie Yook, an NFL Network executive producer and the longtime point person for the network's NFL Draft coverage, and ESPN vice president of production Seth Markman, who oversees the Disney presentation of the NFL Draft on ESPN and ABC. In this podcast, Yook and Markman discuss how they look at the NFL Draft from a producer perspective; why the NFL Draft remains so relevant; the role of Green Bay in this year's production; what it means that every team has a pick heading in; the goal of their respective coverages; last year's first round draft averaging 12 million viewers; how they look at social media; why they don't want their staffers to tip picks and why it is easy for competitors to do so; why Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders is a tipping point for Round 1 and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 497 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable discussion with Donnovan Bennett of Sportsnet (Canada) and Austin Karp, the managing editor/newsletters for SBJ. In this podcast we discuss the NBA's regular season viewership numbers; ABC, ESPN and TNT averaged 1.53 million viewers, slightly below last season’s four-year high; the NBA playoffs and our viewership expectations; the prospect of an Thunder-Cavs final; the Masters viewership of 12.9 million for the final round and what does it portend anything for golf; MLB's miss on Jackie Robinson and how it relates to Jackie Robinson Day; can WBD get your attention with its media rights sports portfolio. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 496 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Joon Lee, an independent sports journalist and content creator whose YouTube launch video was titled, "My ESPN Layoff Taught Me Why Sports Media is Broken." In this podcast Lee talks about why he sees big opportunity in sports content creation on YouTube; the current sports media information ecosystem; how to build content away from a legacy outlet; being let go by ESPN in July 2023 after four years there; how he moved forward after the ESPN layoff and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 495 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch featuresSabreena Merchant, a staff writer covering women's basketball at The Athletic and one of the hosts of "No Offseason," the Athletic Women's Basketball podcast. In this podcast we discuss ESPN televising the 2025 WNBA Draft; whether we think it's a good television production; Holly Rowe interviewing at the WNBA Draft; who we think goes after Bueckers in the Draft; how Bueckers projects in year one in the WNBA; why we both like Serena Sundell and Georgia Amore as roster selections; why Sabreena has UConn, South Carolina and Texas as her Top 3 for next year in college basketball and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 494 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Jon Lewis, the founder and editor of Sports Media Watch and Josh Carpenter, an assistant Managing Editor, Digital Operations Golf reporter for Sports Business Journal. In this podcast we discuss where The Masters sits today in American sporting culture; the declining viewership of the final round of the Masters; the possibility of the Masters ever airing on the streamer such as Netflix; the PGA vs. LIV in ratings; how Josh thought the TGL went; the viewership of the men's and women's tournaments; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 493 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Kenny Albert, the lead play by play voice for WBD's coverage of the NHL. In this podcast Albert describes calling Alex Ovechkin's 895th career NHL goal, which came against the New York Islanders on April 6 and eclipsed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record; being cognizant that this will be a call that is replayed for years; the lead-up to the record-breaking goal; the atmosphere during the game; the importance of not talking after the goal was scored; whether he kept a souvenir from the game; his other memorable calls including Jose Bautista's epic bat flip for his go-ahead, three-run homer in Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series; the prospect of Austin Matthews taking on Ovechkin's record and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 492 of the Sports Media Podcast features Alex Bazzell, the president of Unrivaled Basketball. The 3x3 women's basketball league that aired on WBD's networks recently completed its inaugural season. In this podcast, Bazzell discussed the first year of the league and if they met internal aspirations for reach and visibility; averaging 221,000 viewers on TNT and TruTV and how Bazzell evaluated those numbers; the advantages and disadvantages of playing at a centralized location in Miami; Paige Bueckers having equity in the league and what she has said about plans to play for Unrivaled; the prospect of getting great college players down the road including Flau'jae Johnson; how realistic it is for Caitlin Clark to play in the league one day; the relationship with the WNBA; his wife, the WNBA All-Star Napheesa Collier, and her view of the league; having brand name investors such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, Geno Auriemma and JuJu Watkins, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 491 of the Sports Media Podcast features a roundtable discussion with Donnovan Bennett of Sportsnet (Canada), Chad Finn of The Boston Globe and Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast we discuss how networks will cover upcoming international events such as the Olympics, the World Cup and soccer matchups given the changing United States relationship with former allies; J.J. Watt joining Ian Eagle on CBS's No. 2 NFL team; Charles Davis taking over for Gary Danielson in 2026 and Danielson's announcement to retire from college football broadcasting; ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball final year; LeBron James' interview with Pat McAfee; Stephen A Smith's response to that interview; ESPN no longer pretending the E is not their most important letter; Smith legacy's and the legacy of attention getting in sports and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 490 of the Sports Media Podcast features Lisa Bluder, the former University of Iowa women’s basketball team coach and one of the most accomplished basketball coaches of her generation. Bluder led Iowa to the national title game in 2023 and 2024 and won 528 games at the school. In this podcast, we discuss how she approached the massive amount of media attention Caitlin Clark received at Iowa; how Bluder and her staff thought about interactions with both the national and local media; the number of media requests for Clark; how she advised players when it came to social media; her thoughts on Clark being on the 2028 U.S. Olympic Basketball team; Bluder’s work this month as an analyst for the Big Ten Network’s coverage of the women's basketball tournament coverage and why she hopes to continue with Big Ten Network; the injury to USC star JuJu Watkins; people wanting Clark to be what they want when it comes to how she answers questions; the women’s basketball final between Iowa and South Carolina in 2024 averaging 18.9 million viewers; the game Iowa basketball played at Kinnick Stadium; what’s next for women’s basketball; her husband, David Bluder, work as a novelist. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 489 of the Sports Media Podcast features Brian Lawlor, the President of Scripps Sports. As the owners of ION and TV stations around the U.S., Scripps airs both the WNBA and NWSL, as well as a number of local teams including the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. In this podcast, Lawlor discuses ION's foray into the WNBA and NWSL; ION's WNBA Friday night doubleheaders strategy; the impact of Caitlin Clark being on ION eight times this year; the Las Vegas Aces deal with Scripps Sports; ION recording an average audience of 145,000 viewers across 50 NWSL matches last year; the importance of studio programming around live games; his optimism at continuing with the WNBA heading forward; ION's Saturday night NWSL double-header; how he looks at ESPN and others when it comes to women's sports; having the rights to the Big Sky Conference and the great Montana-Montana State showdown; Netflix's foray into live sports and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices