Episode 169 of the SI Media Podcast, ESPN historian, author and podcast host, James Andrew Miller discusses his much-talked about interview with former ESPN President John Skipper, who revealed that his departure from the company stemmed from a cocaine extortion plot.

Miller discusses why Skipper and Disney did not handle the situation differently and whether there were other factors in Skipper resigning and not taking a leave of absence.

In addition, Miller talks about the fractured relationship between ESPN and the NFL, whether ESPN needs the NFL after their contract expires, who will get the “Monday Night Football” analyst gig, what is giving Peyton Manning pause about taking a job calling games and much more.

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Episode 168 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick.

In this episode, Riddick addresses what separates a good NFL broadcaster versus an average one; how he has attempted to improve as a broadcaster; his candidness on issues and why too often former players pull punches on the air; how he navigates being a candidate for NFL general manager jobs versus working at ESPN; his thoughts when someone does not report on him accurately; how he approaches discussing social issues or politics on social media; whether he has been approached about possibly replacing Jon Gruden in the Monday Night Football booth and interested in doing that; playing under Nick Saban and Bill Belichick in Cleveland; Saban’s attention to detail and what makes him different than other coaches; how the Browns should approach holding the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in the NFL Draft, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 167 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features guests ESPN host and play by play announcer Adnan Virk and Big Ten Network lead host Dave Resvine. In this episode, Virk discusses the most well-known Canadians in American sports broadcasting; his passion for film and his work as an Oscars red carpet host and interviewer; working in multiple roles for ESPN including on college football, college basketball, baseball play by play broadcaster, ESPN Radio, and as the host of the Cinephile: The Adnan Virk Movie Podcast; how Oscars viewers should feel about the show in the #MeToo era;  his surprise over Matt Vasgersian and Alex Rodriguez getting hired by ESPN for baseball; his comfort level in talking publicly about his Muslim faith; how he navigates discussing Islam with ESPN’s social media policies; how he would assess the coverage of Muslim athletes in terms of frequency, depth, and tone; why he likes calling the MLB Celebrity All-Star Game and much more. Resvine discusses his role as the lead host of the Big Ten Network and his move from ESPN a decade ago; why it was important to be the lead anchor at a place; his recent medical issue with Bell’s Palsy, a temporary nerve condition that paralyzes one side of the face; how his network navigates covering the Big Ten with the Conference owning 49 percent of the network;  his must-Big Ten Game Day environments a fan should partake in; the success of his book, The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation, and potential future projects, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 166 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features ESPN host Cari Champion, the new host of SportsNation and the “Be Honest” podcast. In this episode, Champion discusses her interview with LeBron James and Kevin Durant for her

“Rolling with the Champion” series; James’s comments on President Donald Trump; Champion’s reaction to Fox News host Laura Ingraham saying James and Durant should “shut up and dribble” and “Must they run their mouths like that?”; how the interview between James and Durant in Akron came together; what their conversation was like after the cameras stopped rolling; how she felt about her role view First Take, specially the limitations of being able to get her voice into the show; hanging out with Tupac Shakur while growing up in Los Angeles;

her longtime friendship with Jemele Hill and why she thinks it did not work out at SportsCenter; her confirming Hill left the show and was not pushed out; what comes with being a prominent African American woman in sports TV; working with young woman of color who want to enter sports broadcasting and journalism, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 165 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features a sports media roundtable with Sports Business Daily media writer John Ourand and USA Today staff writer A.J. Perez. In this podcast, the panel discusses NBC’s coverage of the Pyeongchang Games; how to evaluate that primetime viewership is down six percent; whether NBC executives should be happy with the ratings; NBC Sports’s responsibility when it comes to geopolitical or stories that involve social justice or criminality; the impact of the NHL players being out of the Olympics; what Fox getting the NFL Draft means for ESPN; ESPN’s NFL future; the declining Daytona 500 ratings; what NASCAR can do to turn its viewership issues around; the New York Post’s story on Fox and ESPN making a play for Peyton Manning as a broadcaster; why newspapers have dropped sports media writers over the last decade, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 164 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features guest Jonathan Abrams, a Bleacher Report writer and the author of the new book, “All The Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire.” In this podcast, Abrams discusses how he came to write an oral history book of the acclaimed HBO series, “The Wire;” the process of conducting interviews for the book; how he initially had trouble getting cast members after Michael B. Jordan and what changed; his Amtrak interview with The Wire creator David Simon; how he efficiently transcribed all the interviews; the one person he wanted to interview for the book, but didn't get the chance to; the frustration among the creators and some of the actors that nothing has really changed since The Wire;

a discussion on which season is the best and why; how the actors feel about the show; a discussion about show writer George Pelecanos writing the famous line for Snoop when Michael kills her in the car (“How’s my hair look, Mike?”); how the show had such an impact with so little episodes, how J.D. Williams knew that his Bodie character would be killed; and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 163 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features a sports media roundtable with Boston Globe sports media writer Chad Finn and Black Sports Online founder and editor Robert Littal. In this podcast, the group discusses the Boston Herald suspending columnist Ron Borges after he was catfished by a person claiming to be Tom Brady’s agent; why something like this happened; how much  Borges’ journalism history play into how we should think about this story; how alert sports journalists should be about potential cat-fishing attempts; the suspension of WEEI radio host Christian Fauria for using a fake Asian accent to impersonate Don Yee, Brady’s agent; our thoughts on Olympic coverage and the ratings so far; why NBA ratings are up in the regular season; the potential viewership for this year’s All-Star Game; why Kevin Garnett has worked as a broadcaster, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 162 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Ted Jackson. In this podcast, Jackson discusses his story, The Search For Jackie Wallace, in which Jackson chronicles his four-decade relationship with Wallace, a former NFL player and two-time Super Bowl participant who has struggled with addiction and homelessness for years; how Jackson first met Wallace in 1990 when Jackson took a picture of a Wallace at a camp setup under the I-10 freeway; how a journalist straddles the line between telling a story and exploitation of a subject; the long and winding story of Wallace; what his interactions over the years were like with Wallace; the national response to the story, which now has more than 7 million page views; an update on Wallace, who has been missing since last July; what Jackson hopes readers take away from the story; and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher.

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Episode 161 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features a sports media roundtable with Boston Globe sports media writer Chad Finn; Black Sports Online founder and editor Robert Littal, and SI.com writer Jimmy Traina. In this podcast, the group discusses NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLII; whether broadcasters Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth were a beat off in their call; how the broadcast handled the catch rulings on the field;what the overnight rating means for NBC and the NFL; the value of having a rules analyst in the booth; Jemele Hill leaving the 6:00 p.m. SportsCenter; whether it was Hill’s choice or ESPN’s choice; ESPN’s use of Mike Greenberg on the SportsCenter following the Super Bowl; what WWE character Greembergh best reflects; Fox landing Thursday Night Football; whether the TNF schedule can improve; and much more.

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Episode 160 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features two guests: ESPN investigative reporter Paula Lavigne and The MMQB editor and NFL reporter Peter King. In this podcast, Lavigne discusses her recent ESPN Outside The Lines story on Michigan State that found “a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of [sexual assault, violence and gender discrimination] allegations by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department”; the timeline regarding the reporting for the story and when and where the story originated; how universities use a delay tactic on reporters attempting to obtain public records; the challenges of finding records on Baylor’s athletics department; her approach to FOIA requests and obtaining documents; whether she interacts with the programming side of ESPN; her thoughts on Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio and Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo’s reactions and denials regarding her reporting; criticism in some quarters that ESPN is taking advantage of the publicity of the Larry Nassar case to pile on Michigan State; the future of investigative work at sports media outlets; how we should we look sexual assault and college athletes and much more. King discusses how he approaches his The MMQB podcast; his two-part podcast interview with Tom Brady at Brady’s home; how he books his podcast guest; why the podcast medium gets NFL people to open up more; what football podcasts he listens to regularly, and much more. To listen to the podcast in full, check it out on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. 

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