Will people watch the XFL?

Episode 52 of the Sports Media Podcast features three guests: First up is a sports media roundtable with Washington Post sports and media writer Ben Strauss of The Washington Post and Hannah Withiam, an associate editor at The Athletic. They are followed by  Armen Keteyian, the longtime broadcast television journalist and an anchor and executive producer for The Athletic.  In this podcast, Strauss, Withiam and Deitsch discuss the XFL’s media deal including the announcement that more than half of the XFL's games will be on broadcast television as part of deals the league announced with Fox and ESPN; whether spring football can be successful as a sports media play; how ESPN and Fox might approach production; what we think of ESPN’s decision to name Joe Tessitore and Booger McFarland as the Monday Night Football booth; how long we expect ESPN management to give the new MNF booth; the Sinclair Broadcast Group buying 21 regional sports networks from Disney for $10.6 billion; what Sinclair owning the linear TV and streaming rights to the games of 42 pro teams might mean for fans of those teams; the WNBA’s new deal with CBS Sports Network; the WNBA marketing itself as a movement; how the WNBA will do without some of its major stars playing this year; how we viewed the Athletic’s panel on students entering the sports media business and much more. Keteyian discussed the debut of The Athletic’s video initiative including profiles of Christian Yelich, P.K. Subban, and three-part series on sports betting (Big Bets on High Tech); how and why the video subjects were chosen; skepticism when it comes to short-form video online, and how to figure out how long to make a digital video.  You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Radio.com and more.

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