Last Word On Sports Media Podcast

It's a brand new edition of the show with Host T.J. Rives being joined by Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com. The guys discuss the end to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the horrible ratings decline for NBC. What does it mean for the future of the games on TV and the financial disaster that could continue for what NBC paid previously? Next, the guys discuss the NASCAR Daytona 500 race and broa...

His name is synonymous with the NFL. Hub Arkush remains the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, now an online publication. But it was his father who founded the company in 1967 and Hub took it over at age 26. Since then, PFW as it’s known as, had blossomed into one of the nation’s leading sports publications though went through several iterations to become what it is today. Arkush not only pu...

His name is synonymous with the NFL. Hub Arkush remains the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, now an online publication. But it was his father who founded the company in 1967 and Hub took it over at age 26. Since then, PFW as it’s known as, had blossomed into one of the nation’s leading sports publications though went through several iterations to become what it is today. Arkush not only pu...

It's our latest edition of the show and host T.J. Rives returns with Jon Lewis (aka "Paulsen") to go over Super Bowl LVI and the Rams dramatic win over Cincinnati from a broadcast and viewership point of view. First, the guys go over the likely final call of the Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth pairing on NBC. How did they do? How was Michaels' call of the dramatic game at the end? And, what happ...

He really wanted to be an airline pilot. Instead, Kevin Harlan parlayed a great voice and other desire to become on the this country’s premier play by play broadcasters. He just completed another Super bowl for Westwood one but there’s no rest for the weary what with his myriad assignments for the NBA. In part two of this enjoyable podcast, Harlan discusses some his famous calls such a thunderous...

He really wanted to be an airline pilot. Instead, Kevin Harlan parlayed a great voice and other desire to become on the this country’s premier play by play broadcasters. He just completed another Super bowl for Westwood one but there’s no rest for the weary what with his myriad assignments for the NBA. In part two of this enjoyable podcast, Harlan discusses some his famous calls such a thunderous...

It's a Super Bowl week edition of the show and host T.J. Rives is back with Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com to go over the buildup to the big game in L.A. Hear more about what will likely be the final game for Al Michaels on NBC's football coverage and where will go? What about Mike Tirico bouncing back and forth from Beijing to Stamford, CT, to L.A. and back to Connecticut to cover it all? Jon...

How many play play announcers put as much enthusiasm into describing a streaker on the field , a cat scoring a touchdown or reading promos? Kevin Harlan has become famous for it but his popularity mainly stems from his fast pace and extremely upbeat approach to calling a game, whether it’s a regular season contest in the NBA or the Super Bowl which he will broadcast for a 13th straight year for We...

A special segment for our podcast audience, as coming Tuesday of Super Bowl week, you'll hear a quick segment with the national radio voice of the Super Bowl on Westwood One Radio, Kevin Harlan. You also know Kevin for his longtime work on CBS TV and Turner Sports covering the NFL, March Madness and the NBA. In this clip Kevin is talking about the wild win in Super Bowl 55 by the Tampa Bay Buccane...

How many play play announcers put as much enthusiasm into describing a streaker on the field , a cat scoring a touchdown or reading promos? Kevin Harlan has become famous for it but his popularity mainly stems from his fast pace and extremely upbeat approach to calling a game, whether it’s a regular season contest in the NBA or the Super Bowl which he will broadcast for a 13th straight year for We...

It's a brand new edition of the show, as host T.J. Rives is back with Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com to go over the top media topics and TV numbers from this past week/weekend. First, the guys cover the retirement of Bucs QB Tom Brady after 22 years of NFL amazing superiority. What about ESPN's Adam Schefter breaking the story last Saturday and then facing some backlash for a few days before it...

When you mention the name Dave Eanet the first things you hear are…voice of the Wildcats, highly respected and great guy. And they fit like a tee for this long time veteran of the Chicago sports media. He’s been calling Northwestern football and basketball for over 30 years and was honored by having the football booth at Ryan Field named after him, an extraordinary achievement given in honor of hi...

When you mention the name Dave Eanet the first things you hear are…voice of the Wildcats, highly respected and great guy. And they fit like a tee for this long time veteran of the Chicago sports media. He’s been calling Northwestern football and basketball for over 30 years. Hear our full conversation and stories Tuesday! Tell me a story I don’t know is proudly sponsored by Vienna Beef, makers of...

On the latest edition of the show, host T.J. Rives is back with Jon Lewis, aka "Paulsen" of Sportsmediawatch.com to go over the latest topics and t.v. numbers in sports over the weekend. Just how successful were the NFL Divisional round playoffs of for Saturday and Sunday? Four dramatic finishes keep the NFL rolling with audience, but Jon puts it in context, too. And, did Jim Nantz and Tony Romo d...

He was never at loss for words. And he still isn’t. Mike north continues yap away on a weekly gambling show and his own podcast. He’s as opinionated as ever in a style a style befit a carnival barker. It’s worked since he bartered time on a frequency in the late 80’s he would help make famous. In part two of our interview with a man who broke the bank in sports radio (North became the highest paid...

Mike North continues yap away on a weekly gambling show and his own podcast. He’s as opinionated as ever in a style a style befit a carnival barker. It’s worked since he bartered time on a frequency in the late 80’s he would help make famous. It's part two of our interview with a man who broke the bank in sports radio (North became the highest paid in the industry when he negotiated a deal worth a...

Who would have thought a high school dropout would be the Linch-pin to sports radio in Chicago? Mike North came out of obscurity to become its biggest star, part of the city’s first all sports station (WSCR, THE SCORE) on January 2nd, 1992. Paired with former Bears star and Harvard Grad Dan Jiggetts, the duo known as the monsters of the midday, captured an audience hungry for sports talk but it wa...

On our newest edition of the podcast, host T.J. Rives and Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com are back to discuss the latest with everything happening around the start to the NFL Playoffs and more. How did four blowout games out of six affect things with the TV numbers? What was up with CBS broadcaster Ian Eagle's winter jacket on the Pats-Blls broadcast? Why was Troy Aikman unhappy with his broadca...

This special edition of “Tell me a story I don’t know” features Les Grobstein, a sports radio legend in Chicago who passed away Sunday. He was beloved by his legion of listeners who tuned into his popular overnight show on WSCR 670 the Score. Les was a veteran of over 50 years and clearly one of a kind. He was opinionated, stubborn and at times combative employing a style that was unique to say th...

A special bonus for our SMW podcast listeners. Hear T.J. Rives talking with Charles Davis, booth analyst with Ian Eagle, about Saturday night's CBS Wildcard game coverage. How neat is it to be one of only two teams doing the playoffs for CBS? And, just how quickly did Charles and his colleagues have to dive into this Patriots/Bills rematch? It's all in this segment. Make sure for Full episodes and...

The College Football Playoff has concluded with Georgia defeating Alabama and now, the NFL take full, center stage and we're to discuss that and more on the latest edition of the show. Host T.J. Rives is back with Jon Lewis (aka "Paulsen") of SportsMediaWatch.com to go over the final ESPN numbers for the end of the College Football season. How much was this year's title game hurt by the semis bein...

On the latest edition of the show, host T.J. Rives and Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com are back in the new year with plenty of football to discuss. They cover the ultimate "snoozer" College Football Playoff semi-finals with Alabama and Georgia rolling and slated to play each other in Monday's title game. Is the SEC dominance destined to doom ratings for ESPN that night? Also, what about announce...

On the latest edition of the podcast, we are back post-Christmas and before New Year's Day with a special show on the passing this week and legacy of iconic former NFL coach and broadcaster, John Madden Host T.J. Rives and Jon Lewis of SportsMediaWatch.com are back to cover Madden's amazing run as the lead analyst on the NFL first with partner Pat Summerall on CBS and FOX and then with Al Michaels...

How do you compile the best of a year? Try almost impossible but we managed to cull ten vignettes from 36 compelling interviews. While we left out such wonderful segments from the likes of Greeny (Mike Greenberg), Bob Costas, Ron Coomer, Laura Okmin and Len Kasper just to mention a few, we stitched together ones from ten alluring episodes. For example: Mark Giangreco and Dan McNeil, two towering f...

How do you compile the best of a year? Try almost impossible but we managed to cull ten vignettes from 36 compelling interviews. While we left out such wonderful segments from the likes of Greeny (Mike Greenberg), Bob Costas, Ron Coomer, Laura Okmin and Len Kasper just to mention a few, we stitched together ones from ten alluring episodes. Get ready to hear briefly from so many of them from our 20...