Episode 656 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Suzy Kolber, the host and executive producer of a new series, "The Originals," which will premiere on September 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET on the Scripps Sports Network, the new, free streaming television channel launched by the Scripps Company earlier this year. The interview show features one on one interviews with people who defy easy explanation including Jesse Cole, founder of the Savannah Bananas; Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters, Hilary Knight, Steve Young and Diana Flores. In this podcast, Kolber discusses being let go by ESPN in 2023 after 27 years there and how she has processed that layoff over the past three years; how the the Scripps Sports show came about; interviewing Cole about his success with the Savannah Bananas; whether she has interest in returning to live sports television; how ESPN management told her about the decision; reflecting on ESPN not doing anything on her leaving the network after years of valuable service; talking to ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro prior to the layoff; taking a 39 percent on her contract prior to her layoff; why longevity for a woman in the business is something she is especially proud of; wondering why leaks happen at ESPN; why it was difficult for her to watch ESPN for a couple of years; speaking candidly on her episode with Salters where they discussed fertility levels, trying to get pregnant and miscarriages, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 655 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Gabe Spitzer, Vice President Global Live Sports and Entertainment for Netflix. Spitzer has oversight for the company’s global live sports strategy including managing the rights negotiations and partnerships with leagues such as NFL, MLB, WWE and FIFA for the Women’s World Cup. In this podcast we discuss Netflix airing the NFL's league’s first-ever regular season game in Australia on Sept. 10 (Rams- 49ers); what viewers can expect from the Australia game; why Netflix expanded to five NFL games in 2026; how Spitzer approaches on-air talent hires; why Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly were the choices for the NFL game coverage; the Women’s World Cup being the most ambitious thing Netflix has undertaken; where Netflix is right now regarding WWC preparations; the on-air talent needed to fill for the Women's World Cup; the company's interest in the upcoming men's World Cup set to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain; when discussions with FIFA might come; where the market is right now for sports documentaries; why Netflix is heavy into partnerships with sports podcasts; how he judges success with the WWE partnership; using WWE talent for traditional sports broadcasts; whether viewers should be scared of a streamer getting a Super Bowl and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 654 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 our group discusses Tony Romo's plea deal and his statement about his future; what we expect  CBS Sports will do with Romo this season and beyond; whether Romo could land elsewhere in the future; the NBA's punishment of the Clippers as it relates to Pablo Torre and his staff's reporting; Matt Yoder's piece on the chasm between journalism and insiderdom never being wider; why the insider position has become so desirable for certain outlets; WNBA Commissioner's Cathy Englebert's resignation; what the next head of the WNBA must have as far as it relates to media; The Athletic's much awaited report on former Athletic reporter Dianna Russini and what we thought about it; the sports media company finding that her relationship with Mike Vrabel violated newsroom standards but showed no clear bias toward the New England Patriots head coach; what The Athletic owed readers; ESPN not investigating Russini's work with ESPN; Russini's future and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 653 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests. First up is Jimmy Traina, a podcast host/writer for Underscore Media. He is followed by longtime journalist Liz Robbins, who has written a book with Billie Jean King titled: See It to Be It: Eleven Champions Leading Women’s Sports Today." The book, for young adults, tells the inspirational stories of modern athletes including Caitlin Clark and Naomi Osaka. In this podcast, Traina discusses his new podcast for Underdog Media; interviewing Alex Rodgiuez after he previously had bashed him on social media; Tony Romo's plea deal and statement about his future; our thoughts on what we think CBS will do with Romo and whether he has a future in broadcasting; ESPN amping up its college football talk; our thoughts on whether Dunkin’ Donuts had too radically changed its menu and more. Robbins discusses her new book and working with Billie Jean King; the process of interviewing athletes such as Caitlin Clark; where the media space at the moment for women's sports; her upcoming story on emerging sports leagues including the women's pro baseball league and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 652 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch, Chad Finn, sports media columnist for the Boston Globe and Austin Karp, the media writer for Sports Business Journal. In the podcast we discuss the start of the college football season and the nexus of college football and media; the teams that move the needle the most such as Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, and  Texas; Pat McAfee's presence in college football; ESPN's decision to cut scores from its bottom line; whether college football broadcasters kiss the ass of coaches at a higher rate than other sports; whether the Big Ten is now a better media package than the SEC; Bill Belichick and ESPN; the WNBA's massive viewership number for the Fever and Sky; the IndyCar from DC; the end of the Pro Bowl and what that means; the Good Good's and Callaway Golf's horrible ad and the speed at which they faced fallout; whether influencers are worth it for Big Media and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 651 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MJF), one of the most talented professional wrestlers in the world today. Friedman is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and they have one of their biggest shows of the year this Sunday August 30 -- AEW All In: London, live from Wembley Stadium  The event will air live around the world on pay-per-view, HBO Max pay-per-view and MyAEW.com. In this podcast, Friedman discusses how he looks at media; how much say he has when a media request comes in; wrestling at one of the world's most famous sports cathedrals; how he navigates interviews where some people want him in character and storyline and other interviews where the outlet wants to talk about the business of wrestling; his thoughts on media training; answering questions from the mainstream press versus a wrestling publication; how he navigates what has become a big social media following; getting bad press; why he thinks Seth Rollins is excellent as a sports analyst; listening to all the wrestling podcasts including Jim Cornette and Brian Last; how he looks at questions about his politics; how much he cares about AEW's TV ratings; his candid thoughts on WWE Radio; why he thinks AEW will be barely be mentioned in the future on WWE Radio; why wrestling content is aggregated so quickly; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 650 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 Pat McAfee's new role on Monday Night Countdown, a possible MNF alt-cast for McAfee and his crew, and his growing on-air presence on ESPN; whether viewers should think of either McAfee or Stephen A. Smith as the face of ESPN or is the wrong question; Nielsen introducing passive co-viewing and other changes to data measurement; Jason Kelce joining Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner as an NFL Network booth; Bob Wischusen and Louis Riddick forming an additional booth; Jesse Doughtery's piece for Esquire on being a new father as he just got laid off from his dream job as a sports writer at The Washington Post; Matt Calkins, a sports columnist, for The Seattle Times, resigning after his editors refused to publish his column; former Alabama basketball player Kai Spears defeating the New York Times in his defamation lawsuit and Michael McCann's thoughts on that case; the Fever-Dream WNBA regular season game averaging 2.58 million viewers on ESPN; the WNBA's increased viewership numbers; MLB Field of Dreams having steep viewership decline in its Netflix debut and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 649 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Jason Hehir, the director of "Novak Djokovic:The Wolf in Winter," a documentary that will debut on Prime Video on August 20. The documentary examines what has driven Novak Djokovic and the sacrifice one makes to become a tennis champion. In this podcast, Hehir discusses what interested him about the project; what makes Djokovic a fascinating subject; the access he got for his film; how he approached Djokovic being banned from Australia prior to the 2022 Australian Open; how growing up in war-torn Serbia impacted Djokovic; how he approached Djokovic with questions on retirement; what sports are still uncharted waters for a sports documentarian; directing The Last Dance; his upcoming film for Netflix about the legendary Canadian comedy show, SCTV, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 648 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Pierre Moossa, a coordinating producer for NBC Sports' coverage of the Premier League as well as a director on NBC's NBA and NFL coverage and Netflix's NFL games. In this podcast we discuss the upcoming Premier League season; what a World Cup year will mean for NBC's coverage of the Premier League; whether new eyeballs will come to the Premier League; how to introduce stars such as Erling Haaland to U.S. audiences; why the Premier League Live studio team of Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, Robbie Mustoe, and Tim Howard works; traveling outside of the studio to promote the league; the inclusion on Hull City,  Ipswich Town, and Coventry City; the unique challenges of directing the NFL's Melbourne game; whether Netflix has a style of NFL production and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

Episode 647 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch, Chad Finn, sports media columnist for the Boston Globe and a surprise appearance from Jimmy Traina, who is leaving SI after 20 years for a sports media startup. In this podcast, we examine CBS Sports president David Berson's comments about Tony Romo during CBS Sports' NFL Media Day; how we saw Berson's specific use of the words image and brand; whether CBS and Romo would engage in buyout talks; how J.J. Watt might do with Jim Nantz; the promotion of Ross Tucker to the Ian Eagle team; Traina's decision to leave Sports Illustrated; what he will do next; ESPN parting with Damien Woody; Fox's NFL announcing teams and what we think of them; why Greg Olson might be Fox's biggest NFL story this year; NBCUniversal carrying a tripleheader on NBA Opening Day October 20; the NBA's Christmas Day lineup; why the NBA decided to do Knicks-Spurs so early on Christmas Day; the Field Of Dreams game versus an NFL preseason game on NFL Network, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.