Prime Video names broadcast team for three Duke MCBB games; Rex Ryan surrenders for booking in Nashville; and iHeartMedia denies considering a potential sale of its podcast business. Plus news on Jamie Little, Tony Romo, Dianna Russini and ESPN.
Prime Video names broadcast team for three Duke MCBB games
Amazon Prime Video has named play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle, analysts Stan Van Gundy and John Wall, and reporter Kayla Grey as its broadcast team for its three-game schedule of Duke men’s basketball games. The company will begin the first season of its neutral-site, global rights agreement with the university later this month as the Blue Devils face UConn at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Eagle, who has called NBA games for Prime Video since joining the platform last season, is the lead college basketball voice for CBS Sports and has called the men’s national championship the past three seasons. Though best-known as an NBA analyst, Van Gundy has called games during the NCAA men’s tournament for the last four years. Wall is in his second year in broadcasting after signing with Prime Video last year as an NBA studio analyst. Grey joined Prime Video as a sideline reporter on its WNBA broadcasts earlier this year after formerly serving in the same role for Toronto Raptors telecasts on TSN.
Following the November matchup, Prime Video will carry another Duke game on Monday, Dec. 21 against Texas Tech from Madison Square Garden in New York. The final game will be against Gonzaga from in Detroit next February. The three Duke basketball broadcasts, branded collectively as the “Prime College Hoops Showcase,” will be produced by Eric Mosley and directed by Travis Henderson.
Prime did not announce the studio team it plans to use for the games, or whether its studio programming will originate from its space on the MGM Lot or on-site.
Ryan booked for hit and run in Nashville
ESPN analyst and former NFL head coach Rex Ryan was booked in Nashville Wednesday after allegedly striking two pedestrians with a vehicle last week, and subsequently changed with misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an accident, failing to give information or render aid, and failing to obey a traffic signal. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said that a judicial commissioner set bond for Ryan at $6,000.
The police department said that Ryan drove his vehicle over the feet of both victims and made contact with one of their legs. The pedestrians waved Ryan down at a stoplight, and he proceeded to get out of his vehicle and argue with them before driving away, the statement said, adding that the pedestrians photographed Ryan and his license plate.
“[W]e are aware and are in touch with Rex,” ESPN said in a statement shared with Sports Media Watch. Ryan, who has been working on ESPN “Sunday NFL Countdown” as an analyst since 2017, was on the show’s episode over the weekend from New York City. Ryan generally appears on Monday episodes of “Get Up” and has also contributed to “SportsCenter.” Prior to his time on the network, he filled coaching roles with the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens. There have not been additional developments on the charges at this time, nor Ryan’s future with ESPN.
Earlier in the year, then-CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo was arrested in Wisconsin on suspicion of operating while intoxicated (OWI). Romo was subsequently placed on indefinite leave by CBS Sports, and the network later announced that it mutually agreed to part ways. Former NFL QB Mark Sanchez was arrested in Indianapolis last October following allegations of attacking and injuring a truck driver. Sanchez ended up departing the network one month later, and he reportedly filed a guilty plea this September.
iHeartMedia denies it is considering potential sale of podcast business
iHeartMedia denied a report by Lucas Shaw, Irene Garcia Perez and Reshmi Basu of Bloomberg on Wednesday that it is considering a sale of its podcast business. “While we don’t generally comment on rumors or speculation, I can tell you that we have no plan to sell our podcasting business,” an iHeart spokesperson said in a statement shared with Sports Media Watch. “iHeart has built the number one podcast publisher in America, with unmatched scale, premium talent and strong financial performance. Podcasting is a core strategic growth engine for our company, and we continue to invest in expanding its reach and potential, including through video podcasting.”
Bloomberg reported that iHeartMedia may sell “part or potentially all of its podcast business in an effort to raise cash and boost its struggling stock price.” The audio company was said to have “been in discussions with the investment bank Moelis & Co. and some potential investors on a possible sale,” although Bloomberg described those talks as being preliminary.
iHeartMedia chairman/CEO Bob Pittman said in an earnings call earlier this week that podcasting remains a strong business for the company and industry as a whole. “[W]e’ve got a lot of new people coming into podcasting,” Pittman said. “I will say in most conversations we began with advertisers, podcasting sort of is what they want to talk about the most, [it] sort of leads the way, and that expresses itself in us selling more inventory, I think we’re getting better CPMs and expanding our roster of podcasts as well, so sort of hitting on all cylinders there.”
iHeartMedia reported podcasting revenue of $174 million during the fiscal third quarter (+24% YoY) and overall revenue of $389 million (+14% YoY) for its digital audio group. The company expects to report podcasting separately starting next year. iHeartMedia was reportedly in discussions about a potential merger with SiriusXM earlier this year, although those discussions “have stalled,” Lauren Hirsch of The New York Times reported in May.
Plus: Jamie Little, Tony Romo, Dianna Russini, ESPN
- Fox Sports motorsports broadcaster Jamie Little said in a statement posted to social media Tuesday that she will focus on pit reporting going forward, ending her tenure as a play-by-play announcer for the NASCAR Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series. Little wrote that her “kids are still young and deserve more of my time,” and she expressed her gratitude to those who supported her in the play-by-play role. “It’s been quite a ride and one I’ll always be thankful to have experienced,” Little said. “A special ‘thank you’ to Fox for always giving me opportunities.”
- Netflix, which has yet to announce the broadcast team for the second game of its Christmas NFL doubleheader, is unlikely to hire former CBS analyst Tony Romo for the position, John Ourand of Puck reported Tuesday. Romo made his first TV appearance since his ouster from CBS earlier this fall on Monday, making a cameo on the Pat McAfee-fronted alternate presentation of “Monday Night Football.”
- The debut episode of “The Russini Report” with Dianna Russini on BetUS TV was delayed after the premiere “drew a record-breaking audience,” the company said on X, without providing data to back up the claims. Russini, who also wrote her debut column for the offshore sportsbook on Wednesday, did not directly address photographs published earlier this year by the New York Post-owned “Page Six” that showed her with New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel at an Arizona resort. Russini conducted interviews with Damon Amendolara, Spike Eskin and Bill Parcells on the debut episode.
- ESPN announced Wednesday that its lead NBA broadcast team of Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler and Lisa Salters will call its Spurs-Knicks game on Christmas Day, marking the first time it has assigned its “A” team to the Noon ET window. Typically, Breen and company have worked one of the later games. ESPN is also bringing back its “Dunk the Halls” animated altcast for the game, which will again feature Drew Carter, Monica McNutt and Daisy Duck. The altcast will air on ESPN2 and, for the first time, Disney Channel.
