Episode 166 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is ESPN college football and NFL analyst Robert Griffin III. He is followed by Katie Strang and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic.  In this podcast, Griffin discusses the how he landed at ESPN; his audition process at Fox and ESPN; why the ESPN job made sense; whether he sees broadcasting as a long-term proposition versus playing again; his preparation for calling games with Mark Jones and Quint Kessenich; why, in his opinion, some former players succeed and why some do not succeed in sports broadcasting; his role in production meetings; his interest in providing opinion versus doing a game broadcast; discussing Langston Hughes on the Oklahoma-Kansas broadcast; his interest in doing NFL content, learning about broadcast boards and much more.  Lazerus and Strang discuss the damming results of the Jenner & Block investigation; TSN's Rick Westhead’s powerful interview with Kyle Beach and the reporting on the sexual abuse allegations Beach made against former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich; how the Blackhawks fan base has responded to stories; the challenges of reporting this type of story; how ESPN and Turner will cover this as new rightsholders and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Robert Griffin III of ESPN and Katie Strang and Mark Lazerus of The Athletic

Episode 165 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is ESPN reporter and Utah Jazz analyst Holly Rowe. She is followed by Jimmy Traina, a writer/producer for Sports Illustrated and the host of the SI Media Podcast. He is followed by Ivan Maisel, the vice president of editorial and a senior Writer for On3. Maisel’s newest book is “I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye: A Memoir of Loss, Grief, and Love,” which is about his late son, Max. In this podcast, Rowe discusses has she landed the Jazz broadcasting job and what her role is on the broadcast; the challenges of navigating multiple jobs across multiple networks; what her college football access has been in 2021; getting coaches after games amid the crowd scrum; how she viewed the WNBA’s season and the cable and broadcast placement of the Finals and more. Traina and Deitsch discuss what Amazon Prime’s NFL exclusivity will mean for viewers next year; Traina’s interview with Steve Levy and Levy’s thoughts on the Manning Megcast; how the Mannings would do if the roles were switched with the main broadcast; what we expect from World Series viewership; whether people should care about the Sunday Night Baseball booth; why Traina is not a fan of the Red Zone fan at all; whether other sports media podcasts are competition or additive; WWE vs. AEW and more.  Maisel discusses his new role with on3.com; why he wanted to write about his son; what he learned about grief through his writing; how much of his writing on Max he showed his family prior to publication; how his family processed Max’s death; whether he wants to know more about Max’s final days; the end of his ESPN tenure; the challenges of promoting a book during a pandemic and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ESPN reporter and Utah Jazz analyst Holly Rowe; Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated and On3.com senior writer Ivan Maisel

Episode 164 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is New York Times writer Ken Belson, who covers the NFL for that media outlet. Belson joined with Katherine Rosman to report on the 650,000 emails the NFL is reported to be looking at regarding the workplace conduct with the Washington Football Team. He is followed by Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, the host of the “Jemele Hill is Unbothered” podcast for Spotify, and a creative adviser for Meadowlark Media. She is followed by Grant Wahl, who writes the Futbol with Grant Wahl newsletter and works with CBS Sports and Meadowlark Media. In this podcast Belson discusses the challenges of covering the NFL; when he started working on stories about the review of workplace misconduct at the Washington Football Team; why readers should care about this story; his access to emails from Jon Gruden; whether the NYT is actively trying to get more of these emails; league attorney Jeff Pash’s role in the story; the nearly naked photos of former Washington cheerleaders being passed around; whether the Raiders would have released Gruden without the later batch of emails; whether there are emails he has seen that he has yet to write about it; Adam Schefter and his email to Bruce Allen and much more.  Hill discusses how she viewed the NFL email story; her column on the NFL being full of Jon Grudens; whether ESPN has any incentive to cover the story aggressively; Gruden as ESPN’s longtime lead NFL analyst; the revelations about Adam Schefter’s email to Bruce Allen and much more. Wahl discusses his decision to start a Substack and what readers can expect from his work; how he pays for travel and an editor; whether he has experienced any access issues since leaving SI;  Meg Linehan’s reporting on the NWSL; the prospects of the U.S. and Canada making the men’s World Cup in 2022 and more.   You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NFL’s emails featuring New York Times writer Ken Belson and Jemele Hill. Plus, Grant Wahl on soccer writing as a profession

Episode 163 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is Jeff Van Gundy, the lead NBA analyst for ESPN and ABC’s NBA game coverage. He is followed by a media roundtable with Kavitha Davidson, a sports and culture writer for The Athletic and the host of Culture Calculus podcast, and Chad Finn, the sports media writer and columnist for the Boston Globe. In this podcast Van Gundy discusses how he prepares for an upcoming season; why he thinks he has lasted in broadcasting as long as he has;  if having money in the bank gives you freedom to say things; his reaction to Kyrie Irving not playing or practicing with the Nets until he is eligible to be a full participant; his thoughts on players doing their own vaccination research; whether the Raptors can attract transcendent free agents; how forthcoming he finds coaches in pregame production meeting; why the NBA hates when you criticize referees  and much more. Davidson and Finn discuss Jon Gruden resigning as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following reports that emails he wrote over a 10-year period included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language; what ESPN’s responsibility is here if any; what’s next with the reporting of this story; NFL’s national viewership and why the numbers are up in 2021; the idea of momentum scheduling by the league; the connection between quarterbacks and viewership; Sage Steele being taken off ESPN’s airwaves; what the future holds for Steele at ESPN; how we think ESPN and Turner Sports will do with the NHL; what Wayne Gretzky might be as a studio analyst for Turner;  who should be the future play by play broadcaster for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball; why Alex Rodriguez is much better served as a studio analyst and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and a sports media roundtable with Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic and Chad Finn of The Boston Globe

Episode 162 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests. First up is a conversation with Lisa Byington and Kate Scott, the first women full-time TV play-by-play broadcasters for a major men's professional sports team. They are followed by Eli Saslow, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter who has published a new book —Voices from the Pandemic: Americans tell their stories of crisis, courage and resilience. In this podcast, Byington and Scott discuss the interview process for an NBA play by play role and how they landed their jobs; becoming the first full-time TV play-by-play broadcasters for a major men's professional sports team; the challenges of the job; how to adjust to a new city and fan base; the broadcasters who reached out to them; how they will view success and much more. Saslow discusses the oral history project he did last year for The Washington Post where he talked to people around America about dealing with COVID; what he learned about America through his reporting; how to get subjects dealing with trauma to trust you to tell their story; why COVID became a cultural war and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A conversation with Bucks broadcaster Lisa Byington and Sixers broadcaster Kate Scott. Plus, Eli Saslow of The Washington Post on his new book on America and COVID

Episode 161 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with Conrad Thompson and Jeff Jarrett, the co-hosts of “My World’ with Jeff Jarrett,” which focuses on Jarrett’s Hall of Fame career as a main-event professional wrestler, promoter, and company owner. Jarrett has been a well-known figure in professional wrestling for decades including in-ring prominence in the WWE, WCW and NWA Total Nonstop Action wrestling. In this podcast Thompson and Jarrett discuss the process of forming a podcast; how they first met; whether Thompson’s success with his other six podcasts gave Jarrett proof of concept; the number of downloads they average weekly and what the realistic celling is for the podcast; how the podcast makes money and what the download number is to make money; how prep works for the podcast; Jarrett’s approach to nostalgia storytelling; how not to be duplicative with other wresting podcasts; navigating multiple podcasts as a host and much more You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Conrad Thompson and Jeff Jarrett on the process of creating a successful podcast

Episode 160 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with the documentarian Ken Burns. In this podcast Burns discusses his latest project “Muhammad Ali,” a four-part documentary co-directed by Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon that will air on PBS September19-22; why he his co-directors embarked on a subject that has been explored in so many forms; how they determined the chronology of the film; the challenge of when to use Ali as a narrator; the complexity of Ali as a social and political figure; how Ali would be looked at if he existed in a 2021 contruct, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ken Burns

Episode 159 of the Sports Media Podcast features a conversation with the new Fox NFL broadcast team of Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib. The duo debuts in Week Two with the Vikings-Cardinals. In this podcast Johnson and Talib discuss how they formed their partnership; working together on a practice game; how Talib got into sports broadcasting and introduced himself to Fox Sports; how Johnson morphs between preparation for college football and the NFL; Talib’s style on the air; how broadcasters deal with feedback; what Talib is looking at pre-snap and how that is different than other announcers; their upcoming Cardinals-Jaguars broadcast; whether Gus wants to continue doing NFL games; Talib’s longterm thoughts about broadcasting and much more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gus Johnson and Aqib Talib of Fox Sports

Episode 158 of the Sports Media Podcast features two segments. First up is Kevin Clark, an NFL writer, podcaster and video host for The Ringer. He previously covered the NFL for The Wall Street Journal. He is followed by a media roundtable with Kavitha Davidson, a sports and culture writer for The Athletic and the host of Culture Calculus podcast, and Chad Finn, the sports media writer and columnist for the Boston Globe. In this podcast Clark discusses the stories that interest him most at the start of the 2021 NFL season; how COVID has shaped his approach to stories; his travel experiences; the nexus of gambling and the NFL and what it means; how he views his competition; what the NFL public relations establishment thinks of The Ringer; why geography matters very little regarding where you live today; why he chose his most recent pieces and much more. Davidson and Finn discuss the biggest media-related stories of the NFL season; what the NFL setting strict limits on game-day access means; how sports gambling will look on NFL content this year; whether college sports broadcasters have any responsibility to discuss the COVID protocols and COVID stats during games; whether college football viewership will be up or down; John Smoltz and Al Leiter not appearing in-studio for MLBN and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kevin Clark of The Ringer and a sports media roundtable with Kavitha Davidson of The Athletic and Chad Finn of The Boston Globe

Episode 157 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is Molly McGrath, an ESPN college football and college basketball host and reporter. She is followed by Christopher Clarey, a tennis writer for the New York Times and the author of “The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer” In this podcast, McGrath discusses returning to college football this season after the birth of her son earlier this year; finding a work-life balance; the internal pressure she felt to return to ESPN; how much college football coaches tell ESPN on-air talent during production meetings; her approach with her bosses after Maria Taylor left for NBC; being assigned to the team of Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, and Todd McShay; COVID protocols for covering college football this season; dealing with toxic social media; being public about her pregnancy; her interest in hosting long-term and more.  Clarey discusses what he hoped to produce by exploring Federer in longform; why he connected with Federer as a subject and writer over the years; what Federer’s top competitors said about him; Mirka Federer being non-existent on social media and not giving interviews for 15 years or so; how Federer’s upbringing with parents from Switzerland and South Africa impacted him; what he expects Federer to heading forward; the challenge of selling a tennis book in the United States;  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ESPN college football reporter Molly McGrath and New York Times writer and Roger Federer author Chris Clarey

Episode 156 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is longtime WWE performer Seth Rollins, who will wrestle Edge on Aug. 21 at the WWE’s annual SummerSlam event He is followed by The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman, an Iowa-based college football writer who covered The Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa.  In this podcast, Rollins discusses how he views promotion and navigates when some media outlets want him in character and storyline versus others who want to talk about the business of wrestling; how much Rollins can dictate which interviews he wants to do for press;  talking to mainstream outlets versus traditional wrestling outlets; his philosophy of doing promos; how much his promo work is improvisation vs. scripted; bringing someone’s real life into a promo; how he and his wife Rebecca Quin, who wrestles under the name Becky Lynch, navigate joint press; how he and Becky would approach the possibility of their real-life becoming part of storyline; navigating a massive social media following and the real mental health strain of toxic comments making their way to you; whether he would be interested in working as a heel or babyface commentator down the road, and much more.   Dochterman describes what it was like covering the MLB Field of Dreams game in person; his expectations and the reality; how many media people were in attendance; how the event came together; what it meant to Iowans; whether he expects MLB to make this an annual event;  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The WWE’s Seth Rollins — and The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman on MLB’s Field of Dreams game

Episode 155 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is ESPN staff writer David Purdum, the company’s premier gambling reporter. He is followed by Mirin Fader, a staff writer for The Ringer and the author of GIANNIS: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP. In this podcast, Purdum discusses the opportunities for sports media staffers working in the sports gaming space; former ESPN-ers and others working in the space; the expectations on the handles on college football and pro football this season; the impact of Oklahoma and Texas moving to the SEC; preseason NFL betting; why sports betting is a long-term investment and a grind; why you should only risk 2-5% of your bankroll per wager; sign-up bonuses advantage; the ethics of using your reporting for betting; why futures are not a smart bet and a big house advantage; international soccer betting, and more. Fader discusses why she wanted to write a book on Giannis; how the book came to be; the process of interviewing more than 220 people for the book; her experience reporting in Greece; what it was like to watch the playoffs; the publicity for the book; how much time she got with Giannis; what we don’t know about the racism Giannis and his family faced; her reporting on Jason Kidd as a Bucks coach; how ones promotes a book during COVID; and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ESPN’s David Purdum on the intersection of gambling and the sports media and Mirin Fader on her new biography on Giannis Antetokounmpo

Episode 154 of the Sports Media Podcast features guest Rebecca Lowe, the host of NBC Sports Group’s Premier League coverage as well as an Olympic host for NBCUnversial. In this podcast, Lowe discusses what working the Tokyo Games has been like; her broadcasting setup in Tokyo; what protocols exist regarding COVID; how she views the declines in Olympic viewership; NBC’s Olympic storytelling; the on-air highlight for her; her Premier League preparation; what she expects from the upcoming Premier League season; if her future at NBC is tied to soccer; England’s World Cup prospects and how they handled Euros, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rebecca Lowe of NBC Sports from Tokyo

Episode 153 of the Sports Media Podcast features Kavitha Davidson, a sports and culture writer for The Athletic and the host of Culture Calculus podcast. In this podcast Davidson and Deitsch discuss how much Olympics we are each watching; why the primetime viewership of the Tokyo Games is way down; how we viewed coverage of Simone Biles in different mediums; why the coverage actually holds well for the future; the story around Suni Lee; whether it is time for sports outlets to have a mental health sports reporter; the intersection of COVID and the NFL; whether baseball should have a bigger Olympic presence and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kavitha Davidson on declining Olympic viewership and how Simone Biles was covered

Episode 152 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is Chad Finn, the sports media writer and columnist for the Boston Globe. He is followed by Melanie Newman, a broadcaster for the Baltimore Orioles and MASN and the play by play voice for the first game in Major League Baseball history featuring an all-female announcing crew (She called the game alongside analyst Sarah Langs, reporter Alanna Rizzo and pre- and postgame hosts Lauren Gardner and Heidi Watney.) In this podcast, Finn discusses the interest in the Olympics as a television experience; whether NBC will get the viewership it has received in previous Olympics; how NBC will navigate the news elements of the Olympics with the competition; ESPN’s hiring of Peyton and Eli Manning for a Monday Night Football Megacast; the NHL’s television schedule on ESPN and Turner Sports; Cleveland changing its MLB name to the Guardians and more. Newman discusses her journey to do doing MLB play by play and the minor league stops along the way; the women who are following her currently calling minor league baseball; representation in sports broadcasting; whether her all-female group will call another game; the prospects of the O’s heading forward in the A.L. East and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chad Finn on whether the Olympics will be a viewership hit or miss and ESPN’s Manning Megacast and Melanie Newman on her journey calling MLB games

The Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch is a weekly show that features interviews with members of the sports media about their work, as well as roundtables with sports media reporters about television, digital, audio/radio, print, and other forms of media. You can read Richard’s work at The Athletic and hear his words at Sportsnet 590 The Fan in Toronto.

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Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

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