Well, this has been a wild eight days. A small podcast sets in motion a turn of events that not even the most clairvoyant medium could see.
It all began last week when your humble blogger interviewed Michelle Beadle for the Sports Media Weekly podcast and she expressed frustration over not being able get network promotion for The Crossover and how she’s not a good team player when it comes to certain issues.
Well, it led to the show being abruptly canceled earlier this week by NBCSN and now we learn from The Big Lead that Beadle may not be long for NBC and might be returning to ESPN.
According to Jason McIntyre at The Big Lead, NBCSN Executive Producer Sam Flood was angry when he learned of the podcast. He decided to can the show, but leaked the story to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times before telling Beadle personally, which is in corporate America sending the message to the target that he/she is persona non grata.
McIntyre also reports that Beadle’s agent will try to negotiate an exit from NBC and that would allow her to return to ESPN. If you remember when Michelle left, ESPN gave her a grand sendoff and she did express in the podcast that she’s open to returning to Bristol, CT.
In the interim, she remains on Access Hollywood. As they say in this ever-changing world of sports media, stay tuned.
UPDATE, 3:45 p.m. ET: John Ourand of Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily received a comment from ESPN regarding Beadle: “While we appreciate her work, we have not discussed or explored a return.”
