Episode 489 of the Sports Media Podcast features Brian Lawlor, the President of Scripps Sports. As the owners of ION and TV stations around the U.S., Scripps airs both the WNBA and NWSL, as well as a number of local teams including the Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. In this podcast, Lawlor discuses ION's foray into the WNBA and NWSL; ION's WNBA Friday night doubleheaders strategy; the impact of Caitlin Clark being on ION eight times this year; the Las Vegas Aces deal with Scripps Sports; ION recording an average audience of 145,000 viewers across 50 NWSL matches last year; the importance of studio programming around live games; his optimism at continuing with the WNBA heading forward; ION's Saturday night NWSL double-header; how he looks at ESPN and others when it comes to women's sports; having the rights to the Big Sky Conference and the great Montana-Montana State showdown; Netflix's foray into live sports and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 488 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests — Rebecca Lobo, Holly Rowe and Ryan Ruocco of ESPN. They are the lead broadcasters for the Women’s Final Four as well as the WNBA Finals. In this podcast the trio discusses calling the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament; reflecting back one year later on the title game between South Carolina and Iowa being watched by 18.9 million viewers; what will be unique about this year’s women’s tournament; the growth of interest in women’s basketball at ESPN; why their are a legitimate half-dozen teams that can win a title this year; a lightning round of questions featuring whether Caitlin Clark be on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team; whether JuJu Watkins be on the 2028 U.S. Olympic team; whether Paige Bueckers will be on the 2028 Olympic team; whether Clark will win a WNBA MVP in the next three years; whether the Indiana Fever will win a title in the next three years; who they would build a team around between  JuJu Watkins or Caitlin Clark, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 487 of the Sports Media Podcast features Sports Media Watch editor and founder Jon Lewis. In this podcast we go deep into the women's and men's basketball tournaments; why we are seeing more women's basketball content than ever before; why viewership will be down for the women's Final Four and title game but what will be interesting is the early rounds; the addition of Jalen Rose on the men's tournament; the title game potential for viewership; Cooper Flagg as a television draw; the prospect of expansion on viewership; ESPN hires a new director for Monday Night Football and the media coverage around it, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 486 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jane McManus, the author of “The Fast Track: Inside the Surging Business of Women's Sports.” In this podcast, McManus discusses her new book on how the economics and surges in viewership contradict the myths about disinterest in women’s sports; why she wrote her book; how she sees the new-age athlete such as Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Trinity Rodman as far as economic power; why the WNBA has not yet made money; the speed at which we will see women’s sports specific-content and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 485 of the Sports Media Podcast features Ben Fischer, who covers the NFL and all other professional football news for Sports Business Journal; Sean Keeley, the Managing Editor for Awful Announcing, and Austin Karp, the managing editor/newsletters for SBJ. In this podcast were discuss why NFL free agency has become such a media event and where can it go heading forward; ESPN signing of Stephen A. Smith for five years 100 million; X versus Bluesky; goodbye for Around The Horn; viewership for March Madness and the Clark/McConaughey debate.You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 484 of the Sports Media Podcast features Conrad Thompson, who has created an immensely successful set of wrestling podcasts including ones with Eric Bischoff, Bruce Prichard, John Layfield; Jeff Jarrett, Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross. In this podcast, Thompson offers insight about the growth of his podcast network; the advantage of begin a first mover in the space; how his podcasts are monetized; the lucrative business of putting on a wrestling podcast convention; why Jim Cornette and Brian Last have been successful podcasters; why Paul Heyman and Tony Khan are the white whale gets to host a podcast; being friends with Cody Rhodes; why wrestling wants to avoid politics; the John Cena heel turn; the Netflix and WWE partnership and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 483 of the Sports Media Podcast features author and adventure writer Cassidy Randall, whose latest book is "Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All Women’s Ascent of Denali." In this podcast, Randall discusses her book that chronicles the first ever all-female ascent of Denali, the tallest peak in North America; the void in the canon of adventure/exploration stories featuring women; why she is drawn as a writer to women who achieve these remarkable adventure feats; what makes Denali so tough to climb; how you research a story that happened 55 years ago; the challenges of book promotion and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 482 of the Sports Media Podcast features a sports media roundtable with Jon Lewis, the founder and editor of Sports Media Watch, and Ben Koo, the owner and editor of Awful Announcing.Int this podcast, Lewis, Koo and Deitsch discuss the place men’s and women’s college basketball currently occupies in the sports media landscape; the viewership for men’s college basketball in 2025; why the men's tournament provides good viewership no matter the teams; the state of women’s college basketball as it relates to viewership; why we are all bullish on the sport as a media play; what a realistic final featuring Paige Beckers and Juju Watkins could draw; how the Home Run Derby would play on Netflix; whether it matters where the NFL Draft airs; how media companies that air sports should approach playing the national anthems of the U.S.. and Canada; why the anthem talk will be monetized and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 481 of the Sports Media Podcast features Chris Cuthbert, the lead play by play voice for Sportsnet's coverage of the NHL. In this podcast Cuthbert discusses calling the amazing 4 Nations Face-Off final between Canada and U.S. for a Canada audience; comparing it to his call of Sidney Crosby’s “golden goal” for CTV from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games; the 16 million+ North American viewers who watched the game; the nexus of geopolitics and hockey for this event and what it meant to Canadians; what he recalled about Connor McDavid's game winner; and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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Episode 480 of the Sports Media Podcast features Jon Lewis, founder and editor of Sports Media Watch, and Austin Karp, assistant managing editor of Sports Business Journal. In this podcast we discuss ESPN's massive 9.3 million viewers for the 4 Nations Face-Off final; whether there will be a carryover to NHL viewership; ESPN's opt-out with MLB; where the Home Run Derby might air next; TGL and Unrivaled audiences, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

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