Netflix signs video podcast deals with Barstool Sports and iHeartMedia; the Scripps board rejects Sinclair’s bid; and the Initial Group acquires Silver Tribe Media. Plus news on ESPN NFL, Rory McIlroy, NBC Olympics and Sky Sports.
Netflix inks video podcast deals with Barstool Sports, iHeartMedia
Netflix has acquired exclusive video rights to select Barstool Sports podcasts, including “Pardon My Take,” “Spittin’ Chiclets” and the newly-added “Ryen Russillo Show” under a new multiyear partnership with the company, it was announced Wednesday. While video feeds for the programs will be exclusive to Netflix, audio is going to be accessible through other platforms.
The agreement comes after Netflix struck a similar pact with Spotify for some video podcasts from The Ringer, including “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” “The Rewatchables,” and other podcasts centered around specific sports leagues. The Netflix-Barstool deal places Spotify’s Simmons on the same video distribution platform as Russillo, who departed The Ringer earlier in the fall and joined Barstool.
Netflix also signed a video podcasting partnership with iHeartMedia this week, bringing offerings from different genres to the streaming platform. Among the sports offerings within the agreement are the “New Rory & MAL” podcast and “3 and Out with John Middlekauff.” iHeartMedia will continue producing the shows, plus other programs such as “The Breakfast Club,” “Dear Chelsea” and “Buried Bones.”
The various agreements will result in Netflix carrying more than 30 video podcasts next year. The company also produces the “Netflix Sports Club Podcast,” which is hosted by Kay Adams and offers insights into sports documentaries on the platform and interviews with athletes, coaches and other personnel, and is also reportedly signing former BBC host Gary Lineker to bring daily episodes of “The Rest is Football” podcast to its platform during the FIFA World Cup 26.
Scripps board rejects Sinclair bid
The E.W. Scripps Company’s board of directors has decided to reject an unsolicited $7/share cash-and-stock acquisition offer from Sinclair, deeming that it was not in the best interest of its shareholders. The board “nonetheless remains open to evaluating opportunities to enhance shareholder value,” it said in a statement Tuesday.
A potential merger could have triggered FCC review due to its 39% national audience reach cap, although Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley is operating under the belief that the cap will be eliminated in the first half of 2026. Sinclair revealed that it had built a 9.9% stake in Scripps last month after purchasing common shares, and it did have discussions lasting several months regarding “a potential combination of the two companies.”
Sinclair expressed disappointment about the rejection, stating that its offer “was based on previous discussions and was responsive to concerns about Scripps’ communities, employees and shareholders.” Furthermore, the company said that Scripps did not engage with its proposal and asked it to do so.
Scripps, which owns 178 local stations of its own, adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan protecting itself against a potential deal. The “poison pill” stipulates that if an acquiring entity garners more than 10% total equity in Scripps, shareholders of record would receive “a dividend of a share right for each outstanding share,” thus diluting the stake of a hostile bidder. Scripps shareholders would also be able to purchase stock at a 50% discount if an unapproved entity acquired the company in a hostile takeover.
TPG-owned Initial Group acquires Silver Tribe Media
The Initial Group, owned by private equity firm TPG, is acquiring Silver Tribe Media — the management and production company whose client roster includes Omaha Productions, The Volume, Dirty Mo Media and “Bussin’ With The Boys” — it was announced Wednesday. Under the deal, for which financial terms were not immediately available, the company will be renamed “Initial Digital.”
Initial Group COO Eric Taitz said that Silver Tribe will provide “proven monetization tools, world-class relationships, and production infrastructure that strengthen how we support talent and scale digital-first businesses across our platform.”
The company formerly known as Silver Tribe Media will “operate as a separate yet adjacent division to Untitled,” a talent management company also owned by TPG’s Initial Group. The entity was formed out of a merger between Untitled Entertainment and Grandview last October. In a statement provided to Deadline, CEO Michael Klein and COO Jack Rose celebrated “the infrastructure and collaborative opportunities” provided by the acquisition.
Klein and Rose met at CAA’s Sports Media Group and founded Silver Tribe a few years later, which has assisted clients in business creation and expansion. In addition to digital growth, several of their clients have also entered into ventures with linear media companies in recent years.
Plus: ESPN NFL, Rory McIlroy, NBC Olympics, Sky Sports
- The Week 16 presentation of “Monday Night Football” will mark the debut of “MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats,” an alternate data-driven broadcast on ESPN2 and the ESPN App featuring Luke Kuechly, Dan Orlovsky and Field Yates for the first two editions. This presentation is scheduled to complement the primary telecast for most remaining ESPN NFL games in the regular season and playoffs (with the exception of one Week 18 doubleheader match) and will utilize a camera view displaying the entire field.
- Rory McIlroy is working with Versant Media to launch a jointly-owned label titled “Firethorn Productions,” which will engage in storytelling, branded campaigns, live experiences and activations on Golf Channel and GolfPass, it was announced Wednesday. McIlroy will also remain the global face and partner of the latter under a new agreement through 2038.
- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Jacobellis is joining NBC coverage of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics as an analyst for snowboard cross competition, the company announced Wednesday. Jacobellis is set to be part of a commentary team that includes analysts Todd Richards and Tom Wallisch, along with play-by-play announcer Todd Harris and reporter Tina Dixon.
- Sky Sports is “committed to returning to boxing” next year under what is being called “a potential new broadcast deal” with involvement from Zuffa Boxing and Most Valuable Promotions, per Tom Kershaw of The Times in London. The company hopes “to conclude both deals in four to five weeks,” although sources cited in the report said “that there are still points to resolve.”
