Sports Media Weekly No. 177 — Goodbye, Farewell and Amen

goodbyeI stole that from the final episode of M*A*S*H, but it’s a good title for the final podcast of Sports Media Weekly. As Keith Thibault puts the wraps on seven years at Sports Media Journal, it’s also the final edition of the Sports Media Weekly podcast which I have co-hosted with him since 2010. We began it as a 15 minute edition, just us going back and forth on the sports media news of the week. Keith and I realized that just the two of us would bore the audience quickly, so we started to invite guests, mostly sports media writers and fellow bloggers.

Then as the podcast evolved, the writers and bloggers joined us for what we called our “Third Man In” segment as we discussed the news of the week, then we had people from the sports media realm join us for our guest segment. For the last year of the podcast, this has been our format and one which has become a very successful one.

We’ve had many guests and many of our favorites join us for this final edition, but before we get to them, Keith and I looked back at 2013 and the year in sports media. Among the topics we discussed:

  • The launch of Fox Sports 1
  • The change in rights in NASCAR, U.S. Open Golf and Tennis plus the NHL in Canada
  • Keith Olbermann’s return to sports
  • The passing of Pat Summerall and Ken Venturi
  • The retirements of Dan Dierdorf and Tim McCarver after long careers in the broadcast booth
  • What’s ahead in 2014 including the upcoming rights bids for the NBA and Big Ten plus changes to the NCAA Tournament on television.

Then it was to our guest segment and Keith thought it was going to be various sports media writers and personalities giving their stories of 2013 and predictions for 2014, but I had them give a tribute to Keith instead. This was supposed to be a surprise, but Keith caught wind of it, but it made for a better segment. Here are the people who gave their time and gave Keith some nice tributes.

  • Richard Deitsch, Sports Illustrated
  • Steve Lepore, Awful Announcing & USA Today
  • Dan Levy, The Bleacher Report
  • Paulsen, Sports Media Watch
  • Neil Best, Newsday
  • Joe Flint, Los Angeles Times
  • John Ourand, Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily
  • Ian Eagle, CBS Sports (with a great serenade!)
  • John Daly, The Daly Planet
  • Matt Yoder, Awful Announcing
  • Michelle Beadle, NBC Sports and Access Hollywood

I thank each and everyone for taking the time out of their busy schedules to say something to Keith. This podcast has been a joy to do and I thank you for taking the time to download and listen. And while this podcast ends, I’ll be transitioning to the Fang’s Bites podcast which will be uploaded two or three times a month.

In the meantime, head to iTunes to download Sports Media Weekly one last time (search for Sports Media Journal) or you can listen by clicking here.

About Ken Fang

Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013. He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television. Fang celebrates the three Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.

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