Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Latest Episodes:

Sports media roundtable with SBJ's Austin Karp and SMW's Jon Lewis Oct 01, 2025

Show notes

Episode 550 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Sports Media Watch editor and founder Jon Lewis and SBJ media reporter Austin Karp. In this podcast, Lewis, Karp and I discuss MLB's increase in viewership nationally year over year; Karp's SBJ's report on which local MLB markets did well and which struggled; baseball's value as a consumer play for customers; what constitutes a celebrity in sports; ESPN's Paul Finebaum considering an Alabama senate run in 2026; college football in 2025; Snoop Dogg returning for NBC's Olympics coverage; the YouTube/NBCU dispute; the difference between the average age of an MLB viewer on TV now just one year older than a viewer of the NFL; Boston passing the Bay Area in U.S. media market rankings: ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” averaging 1.83 million viewers in its final year; Terry Gannon getting a plum Olympics assignment, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Netflix dives into MLB and Annie Costabile on the state of the WNBA Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

Episode 549 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Sports Media Watch editor and founder Jon Lewis and Annie Costabile, a women's sports reporter for Front Office Sports. In this podcast, Lewis discusses Netflix carrying MLB’s Opening Night game next year on March 25 opener at San Francisco; NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wanted to return to the media rights negotiations very early; interest in the NFL international games; potential viewership for Ravens-Chiefs and Cowboys-Packers. Costabile discusses the WNBA season and why she considers it a success; what has it been like covering the league as far as player and coach access; the firing of Sandy Brondello, a two-time winning WNBA coach; Caitlin Clark’s injury and why we don’t know more; the Fever advancing to the semifinals without Clark; the WNBA CBA negotiations; where Unrivaled is at the moment, and more.

A sports media convo with SI's Jimmy Traina Sep 25, 2025

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Episode 548 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Sports Illustrated podcaster and writer Jimmy Traina. In this podcast, Traina and Deitsch discuss Tom Brady's dual roles as broadcaster and part-owner; the Yankees versus Blue Jays in the final week of the season; The NFL Today's Throwback show; Molly Qerim departing ESPN; Amazon’s and NBC's NBA coverage; the ACC GameDay Operations Center; ESPN's relationship with the WWE; the challenges of booking for a sports media podcast; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

ESPN president of content Burke Magnus Sep 24, 2025

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Episode 547 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features an hourlong conversation with ESPN president of content Burke Magnus. In this podcast, Magnus discusses ESPN's foray into A.I; wanting Pat McAfee to stay with ESPN beyond his current contract, a five-year, $85 million-plus licensing agreement that McAfee signed with ESPN in the spring of 2023; why Tim Legler replaced Doris Burke on ESPN's top NBA booth; how ESPN will use Inside The NBA; why Molly Qerim is no longer on First Take; how ESPN views Stephen A. Smith's foray into political talk; how ESPN is approaching its upcoming Super Bowl broadcast; the hiring of digital influencer Katie Feeney; his company's relationship with the WWE; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

First Look, Part 2: How ESPN views Stephen A. Smith's foray into political talk Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with Burke Magnus, the president of content for ESPN. The full interview will be available on Wednesday. In this clip, Magnus discusses how ESPN views Stephen A. Smith's foray into political talk and whether that impacts other front-facing ESPN employees. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

First Look: How ESPN will use Inside The NBA Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with Burke Magnus, the president of content for ESPN. The full interview will be available on Wednesday. In this clip, Magnus discusses how "Inside The NBA" will be used on ESPN as the iconic show has moved from Turner Sports to ESPN. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

The impact of John Madden and Pat Summerall on today's NFL broadcasting Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

Episode 546 of the Sports Media Podcast features Rich Podolsky, the author of “Madden & Summerall How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting.” In this podcast, Podolsky discussed the process of writing a book about John Madden and Pat Summerall; the beginning of Madden's broadcasting career and how he was mediocre at first on air; Madden working with Bob Costas when Costas was just 27; Madden getting the biggest break of his fledgling broadcasting career when he was paired with Summerall; how Vin Scully nearly became Madden's permanent partner; how Summerall's broadcasting career began; what the NFL Today was like in 1975, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

First Look: How Vin Scully nearly became John Madden’s NFL partner Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

Here’s a short clip from our upcoming interview with Rich Podolsky, the author of “Madden & Summerall How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting.” The full interview will be available on Thursday. In this clip, Podolsky tells the story of how CBS had to decide between Vin Scully and Pat Summerall when it came to being John Madden’s broadcast partner. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Are sports viewership metrics on the up and up — and is anyone indispensable in the sports media? Sep 16, 2025

Show notes

Episode 546 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, the editor and founder of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast we discuss how sports viewership has been impacted by Nielsen’s use of Big Data and Panel measurement; whether you still make apples to apples comparisons with sport viewership; YouTube revising its viewership for Chiefs-Chargers;

our experiences watching Red Zone; whether ads have impacted the RedZone experience; Scott Hanson as a host; the contracts of ESPN's Malika Andrews and Brian Windhorst; a discussion on whether anyone is indispensable in the sports media and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Fox Sports's Richie Zyontz and Rich Russo, the lead producer and director for the Kevin Burkhardt-Tom Brady broadcast team Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Episode 545 of the Sports Media Podcast features Fox Sports NFL producer Richie Zyontz and Fox Sports NFL director Rich Russo. They are the lead production staffers on Fox’s top NFL team. Last February Zyontz produced his eighth Super Bowl as a lead producer while Russo’s directed his sixth as a lead director. In this podcast, the two discuss Fox’s Chiefs-Eagles broadcast, the 11th rematch of a Super Bowl matchup in the following season and just the fourth to occur within the first two weeks of that season; the significance of having a big game this early in the season; why Arrowhead is a great place to broadcast a game; Tom Brady’s second year in the booth; where Brady has improved and what he needs to improve on; working with someone as famous as Brady; the rules imposed on Brady as a broadcaster; the upcoming "Madden & Summerall--How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting” book and Zyontz’s role in it; why Fox has two sideline reporters for its top team in Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi; watching the Bills-Ravens incredible finish and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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