Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

The ESPN layoffs — and the media impact of LeBron to the Sixers

Episode 643 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Austin Karp, the media writer for Sports Business Journal and Jane McManus, an editor at Storied Sports and the author of "The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women’s Sports." In this podcast Karp and McManus discuss the ESPN layoffs; why they happened; ESPN once being in more than 100 million and now being in a touch below 55 million; Linda Cohn having a great take and mentioning 150 people behind the scenes; why people still care about ESPN still in 2026; what is the ESPN fundamental brand; institutional stalwarts such as Stephanie Bell and David Lloyd being part of this; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert faces the press; what LeBron going to Philadelphia mean from a media perspective; the NBA's thinking on opening night and Christmas Day; the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina drawing an audience of nearly 63 million across English and Spanish broadcasts for the Final and Fox averaged 7.737 million viewers for the 104 broadcasts on Fox, FS1 and Tubi; ESPN’s cost structure and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

What the ESPN layoffs mean for the business — and can the World Cup lead to more soccer viewers in North America.

Episode 642 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features longtime Canadian sports broadcasters Donnovan Bennett and Arash Madani, both of whom you can find on CBC's coverage of basketball. In this podcast Bennett and Madani discuss whether they see the World Cup as a success; the impact of the World Cup on the U.S. and Canadian domestic leagues; whether more people will watch soccer heading forward; why the Blue Jays collapsed this year; why Blue Jays fans will continue to watch games this year no matter the record; the ESPN layoffs and its impact beyond ESPN; why sports media companies continue to cut people, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Discussing the legacy of Howard Stern and the five best play by play broadcasters today

Episode 641 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Sports Illustrated podcaster and writer Jimmy Traina. In this podcast, Traina and Deitsch discuss Howard Stern's media legacy; the impact of Stern going to one live show per week; Stern morphing from an iconoclast to the establishment; why Stern remains relevant; MLB’s Home Run Derby drawing its lowest audience since 2003, how Netflix does sports; the use of celebrity in a sporting event; the five best working play by play people today; why Traina had Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Joe Buck, Sean McDonough and Mike Tirico on his list; why certain sports would not produce someone on the list; the fraud allegations against ESPN's Matt Miller and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Fox Sports soccer broadcaster (and the voice of EA FC) Derek Rae

Episode 640 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Derek Rae, a long-time soccer broadcaster whose resume includes calling 12 men's World Cups since 1990 including this year for Fox Sports. Rae has also been the lead English commentator for the EA Sports FIFA and EA FC video game series since 2019. In this podcast, Rae discusses his match-calling for Fox at this year's World Cup and what the experience was like; the different venues he worked from such as Mexico City, Guadalajara. Toronto, L.A. and Houston; where his broadcast setup was located at stadiums; how he uses the World Feed as a broadcaster; whether hydration breaks change how he calls games; calling one of the games of the tournament — the Argentina-Egypt knockout game on July 7; what it's like calling a Leo Messi goal; his thoughts on VAR; the prospect of a 64-country tournament for the 2030 World Cup; how he gets correct pronunciations; his work calling Germany's Bundesliga games, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Sports Media Roundtable: The U.S. is out — will you still watch the World Cup?. Plus, more Caitlin Clark insanity.

Episode 639 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Jon Lewis, founder and editor of Sports Media Watch. In this podcast, we discuss the final combined viewing on FOX + Telemundo for USA-Belgium (50.1 million viewers) and Mexico-England (46.7 million); what those numbers mean; CNBC's Alex Sherman reporting that Netflix, Disney and YouTube are interested in challenging Fox for the U.S. broadcast rights to the 2030 and 2034 World Cup; FIFA alerting media companies during preliminary talks that English- and Spanish-language U.S. rights will likely be sold together; the performative people return with Caitlin Clark; WNBA viewership; Wichita being selected as one of two host cities for the newly expanded opening round of the 2027 and 2028 NCAA men’s basketball tournaments; what could replace MLB inventory in 2027 in the event there is a lockout, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.