Fox Sports' Greg Olsen Problem
Issue #141 — While Fox Sports was waiting for Tom Brady, Greg Olsen blossomed into a top-tier analyst. Will he accept being the No. 2 analyst after Brady's arrival?
Fox Sports' Greg Olsen Problem
When it comes to football coverage, Fox Sports likes to make a splash; from using the latest camera technology to the type of on-air graphics it uses during the game, everything about its production is all about splash.
This has made it the near gold standard for NFL coverage. So when it lost its A-team pairing of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman to ESPN during the 2022 offseason, Fox Sports did what it did best and announced the splash hiring of the freshly retired seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, attaching him to a 10-year $375 million contract.
Having Tom Brady in the fold early created new buzz for Fox Sports, as Brady’s pairing with play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt was seen as a power coupling that maintained Fox Sports’ marquee reputation.
There was just one problem…Greg Olsen.
Olsen was initially supposed to be Tom Brady’s place filler as Brady played out his final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Olsen, who had previously worked alongside Burkardt as Fox Sports’ B-team, started earning rave and positive reviews as the network’s main analyst.
Olsen performed even exceptionally well during Fox Sports’ turn to broadcast the Super Bowl in 2023, so much so that it made Brady push back his debut by one more year so that he could be better prepared and be able to match and/or exceed Olsen’s performance.
Then came the 2023 season, and Olsen continued to shine as the network’s lead analyst, presenting a dilemma it needed to address quickly.
What to do with Olsen now that Brady is set to take his place?
Olsen, in an interview with NBC Sports’ Dan Patrick, indicated that he is not interested in making demands, but Fox Sports has to be aware that Olsen, despite being a good soldier, will not be content with being relegated to the B-team.
He is reportedly looking at his options with Fox Sports and other networks, but even that presents slim opportunities as the analyst position with each of the NFL Super Bowl broadcast partners, NBC Sports and CBS Sports, are solidly filled. The one place that may present an opportunity is Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video, which has the pairing of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit. Would Olsen embrace this position with its limited availability of games and no chance of calling another playoff or Super Bowl in the near term?
Olsen can also play the long game, reacclimate himself to the No.2 role, and wait to see if Brady is fully committed to his broadcast duties for the next 10 years. Either that position reopens up sooner than later, and he re-ascends to it, or another position at one of the big networks opens up in the near future.
Having an in-house analyst in your stable who has transitioned to a marquee one, achieving the type of acclaim you hoped for post-Buck and Aikman, is a good problem to have. Moving him from his prime position to a lower one is not a good situation to be in, but Fox Sports must honor the splash it made by hiring Tom Brady.
(Awful Announcing/X, The Athletic)
RECAP
CNN Philippines Shuts Down
After nine years of providing local news to Filipinos, CNN Philippines has ended its broadcasting services. The free-to-air news service ceased operations on January 31, with the network saying that the reason for its shutting down was due to “significant financial losses sustained over the past years, despite rigorous efforts to adapt and innovate in a rapidly evolving and challenging media landscape.” For its part, CNN said that “CNN Philippines has been popular amongst audiences in the Philippines and a valued affiliate partner for CNN, winning many awards during this time.” It added, “CNN remains committed to covering stories for and about the Philippines and continues to explore local content opportunities in the market.” CNN did not own CNN Philippines; rather, the news network licensed the brand name to Nine Media Corporation. Three hundred jobs have been lost as a result of the network shutting down operations. Jonathan De Santos, Chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, mourned the closure of CNN Philipines, saying in a social media post that “Each newsroom that goes dark is one less source of reliable information for the public and is a loss for our community and profession.” The loss of CNN Philippines adds to a very difficult month for journalists and journalism as a whole with either the shutdown of publications or the numerous layoffs being conducted across the media landscape. (Deadline, TVNewser, Jonathan de Santos/X, Politico)
Byron Allen Puts A $30 Billion Bid For Paramount Global
Byron Allen, the one-time comedian, has set his eyes on being a media mogul. Allen, whose media Allen Media Group owns the Atlanta-based The Weather Channel, local TV affiliates, and streaming networks, including TheGrio, has set his sights on trying to purchase Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, CBS Sports, and the Paramount Plus streaming service. The beleaguered media conglomerate has been in the news recently after its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, signaled interest in selling the company. David Ellison’s SkyDance Media Group emerged as a front-runner in the bidding stakes. Allen has also thrown his hat in the ring and seems intent on expanding his media portfolio by purchasing the company for $30 billion — via $14.3 billion in cash and assuming around $15 billion in debt. He unsuccessfully tried to buy the BET Networks in 2023, but that deal went nowhere. He has also attempted to purchase the ABC-owned and operated station for $10 billion and unsuccessfully tried to buy the Tegna Station Group for $8.5 billion. Now, he is aiming for bigger fish - owning a whole media company. “We believe this $30 billion offer, which includes debt and equity, is the best solution for all of the Paramount Global shareholders, and the bid should be taken seriously and pursued,” AMG said in a statement. Some within the business community may not take Allen's pursuits seriously. Still, his bravado echoes one from a previous era, Ted Turner, whose pursuits were not taken seriously back then. Still, his persistence and vision ended up making him a media mogul. (NextTV, CNBC)
QUICK RECAP
Profile: Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich on her White House beat. (The Hill)
Israel-Hamas War: CNN's coverage of the war is questioned by its own staffers. (The Guardian)
Legal: Smartmatic accuses OAN of emailing its employee passwords during the aftermath of the 2020 elections. (CNN)
Out: Kristen Dahlgren announces her departure from NBC News live on the Today show. (TVNewser)
CBS News: Correspondent David Begnaud said he was recently discriminated against at a Louisiana high school because he is gay. (The Guardian)
Newsmax: The network holds a company-wide sexual harassment training. (Mediaite)
Anniversary: ESPN celebrates 20 years of Tony Reali hosting Around the Horn. (ESPN Front Row)
Anniversary: CNN's Quest Means Business celebrated its 15th year. (CNN International PR/X)
Programming: News networks announce their Black History Month plans. (TVNewser)
Programming: Here are the first few minutes of the relaunched CNN International show First Move. (Gabriel Menezes/X)
Streaming: Netflix's executive on its acquisition of the WWE. (Deadline)
Streaming: Disney activist investor wants a bundle package featuring ESPN Plus and Netflix. (Front Office Sports)
Sports: Acclaimed sports broadcaster Bob Costa will be featured on MLB Network's The Sounds of Baseball. (Deadline)
Sports: NBC Sports announces its 2024 Six Nations Rugby coverage plans. (NBC Sports Group Press Box)
Politics: President Joe Biden is a huge fan of MSNBC's Morning Joe and CNN's Fareed Zakaria’s GPS. (Axios)
Politics: Is Fox News worried about Taylor Swift endorsing Joe Biden? (The Daily Beast)
Politics: NBC News launches new focus group series. (NBC News PR)
Awards: CNN's Clarissa Ward was nominated for RTDNA's First Amendment Award. (RTDNA)
Awards: CBS Sports’ Tony Romo will receive the 2024 Pat Summerall Award. (Awful Announcing)
Awards: CNN won two Anthem Awards for its summer 2023 brand campaign, We Are CNN. (Anthem Awards)
Awards: CNN gets two 2024 RTS Media Awards nominations from the Royal Television Society. (Royal Television Society)
In: Three new chief presenters announced by BBC News. (TVNewser)
In: Aneeta Mathur-Ashton joins CBS News covering Congress. (Aneeta Mathur-Ashton/X)
In: Ali Rogin was promoted to PBS Newshour and PBS News Weekend correspondent. (TVNewser)
In: CNN announces Reihan Salam, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, and Jane Coaston as new on-air contributors. (TVNewser)
Super Bowl LVIII: CBS Sports and Nickelodeon's ad inventory sold out, per Sean McManus, CBS Sports’ chairman. (Andrew Bucholtz/X)
Super Bowl LVIII: Nickelodeon announces its broadcast crew for its alternate telecast. (Front Office Sports/X)
Super Bowl LVIII: CBS Sports reveals the tech innovations and technology it will use for the game on Sunday. (Paramount Press Express)
Super Bowl LVIII: CBS Sports’ UEFA Champions League Today will host their show from Las Vegas. (Paramount Press Express)
Super Bowl LVIII: NFL Network unveils its Super Bowl week coverage. (NFL Media/X)
Super Bowl LVIII: NBC Sports unveils its Super Bowl week coverage. (NBC Sports Press Box)
Ratings: The NFL's AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens was the most watched with 55 million viewers. (Sports Media Watch)
Ratings: The NFL's AFC Championship between the Detroit Lions and the San Francisco 49ers was the most-watched in twelve years, with over 56 million viewers. (Fox Sports PR/X)
Ratings: CBS Mornings is enjoying some positive momentum, as it noted a 62-week high in the 25-54 demo in the previous week. (Broadcasting+Cable)
Ratings: Fox News remained the No. 1 cable news network in January. (Fox News Media Press Release)
Ratings: MSNBC remained the No. 2 cable news network in total viewers in January. (NBCUniversal Media Village)
Ratings: In January, CNN was the third most-watched cable news network and a top-five network. (CNN Press Room)
Ratings: Fox Sports’ studio shows had their most-watched January ever. (Fox Sports PR/X)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #141 - 2024