We are back, sports media consumers; welcome to The Coverage: Better Late Than Never. If you’re new here, welcome. My name is Josh Mercer, better known as Merce. I listen to plenty of sports media podcasts and read a lot of sports media and general media columns and articles, so I thought it was a good idea to start one myself.
If you already knew that, I’m sorry for wasting your time. You won’t regret reading today’s stories. So grab your favourite beverage, sit back, put your feet up and get ready for some quality reading.
What’s The Buzz!
On the Wednesday Briefing, I discussed last week’s changes to the Triple M podcasts: Danny Weidler and Shane Flanagan moved from Wednesday to Thursday, while the man himself, Phillip ‘Buzz’ Rothfield, returned to the Triple M studios to host the Wednesday Show with former colleague Brent Read. And I tell you what, it was like an episode of NRL 360.
‘Buzz’ and Ready went at it like they used to do on Monday nights, and it was music to this writer’s ears. I may be showing my bias here, but I especially loved it when ‘Buzz’ went to bat for Teddy not getting the fullback position for the opening World Cup game. Ready repeated what he said on Tuesday’s podcast: that incumbency gets rewarded, as it has in the past. ‘Buzz’ didn’t buy that. It was also pointed out that Kevin Walters said he was resting Teddy because he was playing too much football. But ‘Buzz’ pointed out that the New Zealand side features Kalyn Ponga, Dane Gagai, and Naufahu Whyte against Australia.
When I wasn’t picked for representative teams when I was younger, my stepdad would say it’s harder to get out of a rep side than to get into one. Back then, I didn’t know what he meant, but over the years, I’ve watched players who deserved to be picked for rep teams miss out to the same old faces. That’s exactly what happened here for the Australian side. As much as Kevin Walters wants to say that he wants to give Teddy a rest, I have a feeling he will only get picked for the games against lower opposition like the Cook Islands and Fiji, while Walsh, who is a fantastic player when he’s on, will probably be the fullback for the World Cup final.
Sorry for veering off track there! Now, the other thing that came up was whether ‘Buzz’ will come out of retirement. Of course, the former News Corp journalist denied it, but that didn’t stop people from having fun with it, as the Rugby League Sin Bin did.
‘Buzz’ reposted the video on Twitter/X, and I followed up to ask if this meant he was coming out of retirement; I didn’t get an answer, but he liked my post. Unfortunately, ‘Buzz’ has his Twitter/X DMs closed, so I couldn’t confirm anything further.
Flipping Foxtel
I came across an interesting Australian Financial Review article about Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan holding preliminary talks with DAZN to acquire Foxtel, just 18 months after DAZN bought it from News Corp.
McLachlan wants to buy Foxtel because, under the Federal Government, Tabcorp’s main business, wagering, has limited growth potential. The article says the company is no stranger to broadcasting because of the Sky Racing channels, and because two people within the company have broadcasting experience: Chairman Brett Chenoweth was a managing director at APN News & Media, and McLachlan is a former AFL CEO who has dealt with broadcasting rights.
The article says that if Tabcorp acquires Foxtel, it will effectively double Tabcorp’s size and become a sports and wagering business. The article also says DAZN isn’t interested in selling off parts of the company; if it goes through, Tabcorp would have to take the whole thing. This makes sense, since DAZN is a sports streaming company, and selling off Foxtel’s sports division would do them no service.
I couldn’t imagine DAZN buying Foxtel only to flip it (using my best housing analogy) 18 months later. But if the price is right, a sale might make sense.
Watch this space.
It’s an Emergency……. Podcast!
I love a good emergency podcast. The effort that goes into them is amazing. Let’s say you’re the producer of the number one sports podcast in the country, and it’s Sunday evening and one of the biggest sports stories of the year drops. You call your host, and while you don’t have time to drive the 25 minutes to the podcast studio, you can do it from the comfort of your own home. It reminds me of live radio, which excites me, and one day I hope to do an emergency podcast as a producer, a host, or both!
If you follow the NFL, then you know that former Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo and CBS mutually agreed to part ways after he was caught driving under the influence of alcohol (known in America as operating a vehicle while intoxicated or OWI). NFL commentary booths are one of the biggest talking points in American sports media, so when the news broke, the podcasters jumped on it. The Ringer’s Press Box and Sports Business Journal’s The Sports Media Podcast, hosted by Austin Karp and Josh Carpenter, also broke the news with an emergency podcast.
Since the Romo news broke on a Friday, other podcasts like Richard Deitsch’s Sports Media Podcast, for example, could cover the story on its regular Saturday show.
It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Australian Man!
An Australian cricket broadcaster has earned a new nickname after a host blanked during a live broadcast. The Aussies are playing South Africa right now, and Howie Games Podcast host Mark ‘Howie’ Howard is there, commentating the Test series for Fox Cricket.
After what happened there last week, Howard is now known as the ‘Australian Man.’ During the tea break, Mark Howard joined a panel with Kaya Zondo and host Lesego Pooe. When introducing her guests, Pooe called Howard by his new nickname.
The clip went viral and drew amused reactions.
You’ve reached the end of another Better Late Than Never column, sports media consumers. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you find anything interesting or want me to cover something in this column, reach out to me at josh@justmerce.com or hit me up on social media.
Until next time, take care!
Merce
