Episode 630 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch; Armand Broady, the co-host of the Sports Media Watch podcast and a contributor to SMW, and Derek Futterman, a multimedia writer and producer for Sports Media Watch. In this podcast we discuss the remarkable interest in this year's NBA Finals; why viewership has soared; what the Spurs losing Game 4 might cost ESPN/ABC; what it means for the NBA's future; the celebrity element; how Inside the NBA has thrived; our early World Cup thoughts on Fox's coverage; NHL viewership and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Tim Kawakami and Richard Deitsch share some thoughts on the state of WNBA media after the Fever revoked the credentials of reporter Scott Agness.

Episode 629 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Adam Crafton, a British journalist based in New York City, having relocated from London in 2024. He primarily covers soccer for The Athletic. In this podcast we discuss how a journalist can cover the duration of the tournament; the safety issues surrounding the World Cup; FIFA's terrible issuing of tickets and the exorbitant prices consumers are being asked to pay; the lack of access journalists get when it comes to FIFA officials; the expectation for the Iranian team and whether we see protests around those games; the tournament favourites including France, Spain, Brazil, England and others; the last World Cup for Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 628 of the Sports Media Podcast features a sports media roundtable with Jacob Feldman, a senior sports business writer for Sportico and Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter, both of who cover sports media for SBJ. In this podcast, we discuss the World Cup airing on Fox Sports from June 11 through July 19; what we are expecting from Fox's coverage; how much Fox Sports will cover news events away from the pitch; the new on-air talent from Rebecca Lowe, to Thierry Henry to Zlatan Ibrahimović; a great NBA Finals Game 1 and what it means; the robust Stanley Cup viewership numbers for Game 1 and what it means heading forward; our thoughts on Russell Wilson and Kyle Long being hired by CBS's The NFL Today; whether Wilson has an authenticity problem and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 627 of the Sports Media Podcast features Mike Breen, the lead voice of ESPN/ABC's NBA coverage. The NBA Finals between the Knicks and Spurs begin June 3 at 8:30 PM ET on ABC. Breen will call games with Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler and Lisa Salters. In this podcast, Breen discusses his thoughts of this Spurs-Knicks series; the immense value of Victor Wembanyama being in the Finals; why he thinks the series will appeal nationally; what it's been like for him to do a lot of press on the series as the TV voice of the Knicks; the celebrity row that will appear at Madison Square Garden; how he looks at a neutral broadcast; the atmosphere in NYC; what it means that the Knicks-Spurs winner will be the eighth NBA champion in the last eight seasons; calling his 21st NBA Finals; his first NBA Finals call on TV, which was in 2006 with Hubie Brown; calling the 1994 NBA Finals on New York radio when the Knicks lost to the Rockets in seven games; working with Don Imus and being made fun of by Howard Stern' becoming friends with Ben Stiller, and more.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 626 of the Sports Media Podcast features a roundtable with Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch; Armand Broady, the co-host of the Sports Media Watch podcast and a contributor to SMW, and Derek Futterman, a multimedia writer and producer for Sports Media Watch. In this podcast we discuss the NBA Finals; why the Spurs being in the Finals would be much better for viewership; whether the Knicks have viewership juice because of New York City; why Wemby is such a TV draw; ESPN's Pat McAfee landing multiple league commissioners; why the league heads went on McAfee; why McAfee's juice continues growing at ESPN; the NHL having a renaissance season; how much interest we have in the Rafa Nadal doc on Netflix, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 625 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Wertheim, who does features and player interviews for TNT Sports's live coverage of the French Open and also works as a "60 Minutes" correspondent, a Tennis Channel analyst, and a Sports Illustrated Senior Enterprise Writer. In this podcast we discuss Jaxson Dart introducing President Donald Trump at a rally on behalf of Representative Mike Lawler which caused an eruption on social media and the greater sports media ecosystem; whether that act opens up Dart for journalistic inquiry about the decision; whether it is fair to ask teammates about it; why it's fair to make the same inquiries of all athletes who delve into podcasts, from LeBron to Steve Kerr; the French Open draws and why the women's tournament is more interesting this year; the access that tennis journalists get; what TNT Sports is doing differently with tennis; Andre Agassi as a broadcaster; Dana White and politics; Wertheim's work on "60 Minutes" and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 624 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch and Sports Business Journal media reporter Austin Karp. In this podcast, we discuss Victor Wembanyama as a longterm television draw; why Wembanyama looks like the league's most attractive media commodity heading forward; Spurs-Thunder Game 1 averaging a combined 9.16 million viewers on NBC across Nielsen and a streaming audience measured by Adobe Analytics, officially marking the largest audience on record for a Game 1 of the West Finals; Fox taking a studio show on the road for the World Cup; the NFL owners voting to drop the policy allowing them to protect their two most lucrative home games from being scheduled overseas; NASCAR no longer report Nielsen “Big Data + Panel” figures for its races, returning to the “panel-only” methodology; the NHL seeing its best conference semifinals on record, as ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, TNT and truTV averaged 1.9 million viewers for all second-round games, and more.You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 623 of the Sports Media Podcast features Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Tamika Catchings and Chamique Holdsclaw. The two are working as analysts for the WNBA on USA Network this season, with Tamika as a game analyst and Chamique in the studio. This is USA Sports's inaugural season of covering the WNBA, and they will air more than 50 games this season, including the WNBA Finals. Barring a sweep, the champion will be decided on USA Network in 2026. In this podcast we discuss how they ended up getting their jobs; the discussion around being an advocate for the WNBA versus doing journalism or being critical of the league; which WNBA teams look good early; Holdsclaw publicly discussing her mental health struggles and her being one of first prominent athletes of her era to discuss that prominently; Catchings on UConn star Sarah Strong and what kind of pro she will make;  where they see the Tennessee women's basketball program right now, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 622 of the Sports Media Podcast features two guests. First up is Al Michaels, the lead game-caller for Prime Video's football package since 2022 and an iconic figure in sports broadcasting. Michaels has called prime-time NFL football for the past 40 seasons. He is followed by Sports Business Journal media reporter Austin Karp. In this podcast, Michaels discusses Amazon's schedule this season; how he feels about the Lions at Bills opener and the number of times he has been on the call when a new NFL stadium has opened; Prime Video's very strong end of season schedule including Texans vs. Eagles on Christmas Eve in Philadelphia, followed by Ravens vs. Bengals in Cincinnati on New Year’s Eve; what it's like to call games on Black Friday games; the NFL playing games in  London, Paris Madrid, Munich, Melbourne, Rio and Mexico City; his fondness for newspapers; watching the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal with Johnny Bench and Pete Rose; how he is approaching his career at this point and why he has happy to be on a year by year deal and more. Karp comes on to discuss the NFL schedule; what each of the networks said about their allotment of games; the NFL's post-schedule conference call with reporters and a shoutout to ESPN PR staffer Mac Nwulu. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 621 of the Sports Media Podcast features play by play broadcaster Ian Eagle, who will call Game Six of Spurs-Timberwolves series for Prime Video this Friday. Eagle is the lead broadcast for Prime's coverage of the NBA as well as the lead broadcaster for CBS/WBD coverage of March Madness. He also calls NFL games for CBS and the Brooklyn Nets for the YES Network. In this podcast, Eagles discusses his fondness for Kevin Harlan; the most impressive thing he's seen in person so far from the NBA postseason games; calling the duration of LeBron James' career; what it means for the league when the Knicks have a chance to go on a deep postseason run; the iconic players he has called in the NBA during his career; the NCAA Tournament extending to 76 teams; how closely he follows the NFL's schedule release; his dream to attend Wimbledon, whether he thinks life exists outside of earth and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.