SI Media Podcast: What Jay Cutler's Exit Means for Fox Sports
Episode 131 of the Sports Illustrated Media podcast features a sports media roundtable featuring Chad Finn, the sports media writer and general columnist for the Boston Globe and Boston.com, and Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand. On this podcast, we discuss Jay Cutler leaving Fox Sports for the Dolphins and what that means for Fox Sports; Disney’s plans for an ESPN OTT (over-the-top) streaming service and what the future of ESPN might look like; what happens if cable keeps shrinking and digital TV companies don’t invest in sports content; why Fox Sports has kept Katie Nolan off its airwaves; what ESPN will do in terms of replacing Dan Shulman; whether Pete Rose will stay employed by Fox Sports; whether stories about Colin Kaepernick drive eyeballs and page views; Chad’s battles with Boston-based WEEI Radio and whether he is a fawning profile writer; what a sports journalist should do when a subject or someone close to a subject compliments a piece you wrote; how often you should give an organization a heads up, if ever, on a negative piece you a writing; and much more.
Media Circus: How Would Your Market React to the Team Signing Colin Kaepernick?
The podcast also features an interview with Dari Nowkhah, the lead host of the SEC Network and co-host of ESPN Radio’s weekly Dari and Mel Show (Saturdays). For this segment we discuss how Nowkhah approaches his role for SEC Now; whether SEC viewers expect him to be a fan of the conference; what SEC program has the most rabid fan; why he left Bristol to be the host of ESPNU; whether Nick Saban gets favorable treatment both locally and nationally; how his agent submitted his resume and tapes to ESPN without him knowing; being the son of an Iranian immigrant; losing his child (Hayden Michael Nowkhah) after 39 days and how he and his wife, Jenn, channeled that grief; the non-profit he and his wife are part of that financially assists families of children awaiting a life-saving organ transplant; the significance of the Alabama-Florida State opener, and much more.
You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.
PODCAST BREAKDOWN
• What does Jay Cutler joining the Dolphins mean for Fox Sports’s No. 2 NFL team? – 1:30
• Why are sports networks obsessed with bringing in big name athletes? – 6:00
• The recent Disney earnings call and ESPN increasing its stake in BamTech – 14:30
• The potential for more layoffs at ESPN – 19:00
• Ourand’s piece on the presumption that the Google, Netflix’s and Amazon’s will swoop up sports rights – 20:30
• What will Fox Sports do with Pete Rose – 28:00
• How popular are stories about Colin Kaepernick? – 34:00
• Who will Dan Shulman’s replacement next year on Sunday Night Baseball? – 38:00
• Why is Fox Sports burying Katie Nolan? – 41:50
• (Boston-based) WEEI vs. Chad Finn – 54:00
• How should sports writers react when a subject or a subject’s family praises the piece publicly? – 57:00
• Should sports news outlets give the subject a heads up on time of publication prior to a negative story – 1:06.30
• Start of Nowkhah interview – 1:17.00
• Working for nearly a decade on ESPN Radio with Mel Kiper Jr. – 1:18.00
• His responsibilities at the SEC Network and why he joined it – 1:21:30
• The access the SEC Network gets at each SEC school – 1:32:00
• Getting caught on a hot mic talking about Alabama coach Nick Saban’s relationship with the SEC media – 1:38.00
• Whether the local and national media that cover Alabama is soft on Saban? – 1:40.00
• How he went from Tulsa (the No. 60 TV market) to ESPN – 1:43.00
• His father moving to the U.S. from Iran in 1967 – 1:47:00
• On the loss of his son, Hayden, and how he and his wife Jenn channeled their grief into helping other families – 1:52:00
• Alabama vs. Florida State on opening week – 2:01.00
