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What’s going on with the NFL Network? [1]

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Date: 2024-04-05 11:30:52+00:00

What the heck is going on with NFL Network?

First, it appears to be sabotaging the excellent show “Good Morning Football” by moving it out of New York City and to Los Angeles, which likely means a shakeup of staff both in front of and behind the camera.

Maybe it’ll all work out, and there’s a method to what now appears to be madness. But I do know this much: “Good Morning Football” has found its groove in recent years and is (or was) one of the best sports studio shows on television. Why mess with it? Just rinse and repeat and continue to have a highly watchable show.

Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina wrote, “While we don’t know yet about changes to the on-air staff, we do know the production team for ‘GMFB’ won’t be moving to L.A. So the NFL is taking a popular show that works extremely well and stripping it of its support staff and moving it from the exciting and gritty New York City to laid-back L.A. and making the hosts go live on the air at 5 a.m. local time.”

Traina added that it’s hard to see some of the “farewell to New York” videos from on-air talent and not think of it as “an end of an era.”

Then came this news Thursday as first reported by Andrew Marchand for The Athletic: The NFL Network is letting go of four on-air personalities. They are Melissa Stark, Andrew Siciliano, James Palmer and Will Selva — all of whom are well respected in the business. (Stark remains a sideline reporter for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”)

Stark had been at NFL Network for 12 years. Siciliano started there in 2005. Selva had been there for a decade. Palmer joined NFL Media in 2015.

What gives? Doesn’t the NFL print money? Why all the shuffling?

NFL Network spokesperson Alex Riethmiller told The Athletic, “As is normal course of business this time of year, we are evaluating our talent roster for the upcoming 2024 season and beyond. That process results in renewals, non-renewals and additions to our talent lineup depending on programming needs. To those departing talent, we give our sincere thanks and appreciation for their hard work and contributions to NFL Media.”

Earlier this week, Awful Announcing’s Alex Reimer wrote, “GMFB‘s cross-country move is taking place during a turbulent time at NFL Media. Despite the NFL now approaching $12 billion in annual revenue, the league is slashing its media assets. Last year, NFL Network laid off about 5 percent of its staff and was criticized for doing so in the wake of new sources of revenue. Early this year, Andrew Marchand reported ESPN and the NFL were in ‘advanced talks’ that would give the league an equity stake in the Disney-owned property, but nothing has materialized as of yet.”

This ESPN-NFL talk may have a lot to do with all this. Still, the latest is sad news. A really good morning show might turn sour and, more importantly, some really talented people just got let go.

The future of SI

Oh, speaking of Jimmy Traina, good news about his Sports Illustrated sports media podcast. It’s returning. It had been off for a short spell as all the mess with Sports Illustrated and its future was sorted out.

But Traina wrote in his column Thursday, “I will spare you the details and just tell you that Sports Illustrated is not dead — by a long shot. The magazine is alive. The website is alive. Our social channels are alive. My column is alive and my podcast is alive. Any reports of SI’s demise are 100% wrong.”

Traina’s first episode after the brief hiatus was a conversation with sport-talk legend (and occasional ESPN “First Take” guest) Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

As nonprofit journalism matures, what’s next?

Here’s an item from my colleague Annie Aguiar, Poynter’s audience engagement producer.

In a troubled media industry, many look to nonprofit newsrooms as role models. But as the nonprofit sector of the industry matures, what’s next?

We’ll be having a LinkedIn Live audio discussion with Poynter contributor Amaris Castillo, Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds and Institute for Nonprofit News chief network officer Jonathan Kealing to talk a bit more about the state of nonprofit news and what we can learn from notable nonprofit newsrooms and longer-running startup shops.

One peer to learn from is New Orleans’ pioneering nonprofit The Lens, kept alive for going on 15 years under the guidance of artist-turned-journalist Karen Gadbois.

Castillo spent months reporting on Gadbois and The Lens as a case study for the industry for her story, “In New Orleans, a pioneering nonprofit newsroom ponders a future beyond its founder,” and will speak about the newsroom as a case study for the nonprofit sector.

Save the date and join us next Wednesday, April 10 at 4 p.m.

And now onto more media news, tidbits and recommended links for your weekend …

More resources for journalists

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].

The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here.

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[1] Url: https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/nfl-network-melissa-stark-james-palmer-will-selva-andrew-siciliano/

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