Sports Media Thread

[Irrelevant Dude]

I have been listening this week.  I'm sure it will take a bit of time for things to settle in, but my observations so far are:

It is really nice to hear Dan and Matt together again.  Love him or hate him, we all know who Dan is at this point, but he is still one of the most interesting hosts in Chicago sports.

I'm having a bit of a hard time reconciling the difference between radio and podcasts.  This new format "feels" like a radio show, but is significantly shorter.  And part of it feeling like a radio show, it is really weird to me that it isn't live.  I'm so used to radio broadcasts talking about news in real time and I still haven't adjusted to the fact that these episodes are pre-recorded.  I wonder if there is any consideration for them to move to a live format at some point.

I also don't love the idea of multiple different shows being released on the same day.  There is the standard Dan Bernstein Unfiltered show, but then also Forward Progress for Bears talk.  They also talk about the Bears on the other show, so you have one show that talks a lot about the Bears and another show that talks only about the Bears.  I get why they did it.  There are probably a lot of people that might listen to a dedicated Bears podcast that wouldn't be interested in listening to a more general "Dan Bernstein podcast."  But it does make for a bit of a confusing separation of content.

[BigSlick]

Yeah, honestly, if you have a daily podcast I'm not sure why they need a dedicated Bears podcast as well, there's only so much sports news that comes out every day and as well know, Chicago is a football town. Once football season starts the main appetite for sports content is Bears related. So they're gonna be doing a lot of redundant commentary.

Hell, the Cubs have been contenders all season long and they are still a smaller fraction of the Score material than the Bears have been through training camp. 

As far as the live vs. podcast thing... I get the impression they're recording these the morning they're released? Which is a pretty darn fast turnaround and is close enough to live events that it will be pretty up to date. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

26 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

As far as the live vs. podcast thing... I get the impression they're recording these the morning they're released? Which is a pretty darn fast turnaround and is close enough to live events that it will be pretty up to date. 

That is what I thought too, but at least with the Bears podcast yesterday, it was apparently recorded the day before.  They were reacting to "breaking news" of Bears roster decisions that came from the day before.  So I'm really not sure if they are recording in the morning or the prior afternoon.  Maybe they will do the Bears podcast a day ahead and then the regular podcast the morning of.  I don't know.  But I would really like to see them move toward live streaming at some point.

[Mark Priors Calves]

312 Sports is a new podcasting company run by Hubbard Media, so I'm sure they're looking for a portfolio of different podcasts to launch, even if it doesn't make sense to the people who have been listening since Day 1 of the launch.  They'll also be doing a Bulls focused podcast, which Bernstein already had with his son.  It's likely easier for Hubbard to develop advertising relationships with more of a variety of podcasts as well as more downloaded episodes and subscriptions in people's podcast feeds. 

[BigSlick]

We have a Boers and Bernstein reunion today: 

Poor Terry seems like he's dealing with a whole boatload of health problems 😞

[Irrelevant Dude]

On 9/3/2025 at 4:23 PM, BigSlick said:

Poor Terry seems like he's dealing with a whole boatload of health problems 😞

😞

I thought we were going to lose him nearly a decade ago.  I'm glad that he bounced back, but it definitely sounds like he has been through a lot since then.

I was kind of hoping to hear them talk some current sports, but there was barely any of that since Terry said he doesn't watch sports anymore.  It's crazy how guys like him and Rozner got out of the business and then stopped following sports altogether.

Anyway, I wish the best for Terry.  He seems like a really good guy and someone who is very well respected by his former peers. 

[CubinNY]

Whatever happened to Jim Rome? There was a time when he was ubiquitous. He's sort of made the mold for most of these dhuds. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

15 hours ago, CubinNY said:

Whatever happened to Jim Rome? 

I rarely listen to ESPN radio anymore, but not too long ago I recall him having a "Jim Rome minute" audio blurb that would get played every day.  I assume that was in addition to some type of syndicated radio show somewhere, but I'm not sure.

[Andy]

Rome is still around. His show is apparently syndicated by Westwood One.

[BigbadB]

15 hours ago, Andy said:

Rome is still around. His show is apparently syndicated by Westwood One.

All this concern about Rome, yet we don't even care about the welfare of Roy Firestone?

[JHBulls]

Don’t know where to put this bit of Australian sport. Some of the best commentary you’ll hear.

 

[Tryptamine]

On 9/27/2025 at 7:15 AM, BigbadB said:

All this concern about Rome, yet we don't even care about the welfare of Roy Firestone?

Roy is still frequenting the oriole hangout message board. He was on there yesterday.

[Derwood]

I would really love to see a network create a show with Pat McAfee, Steven A. Smith, and Dave Portnoy.

And then immediately cancel that show.

[Soul]

1 hour ago, Derwood said:

I would really love to see a network create a show with Pat McAfee, Steven A. Smith, and Dave Portnoy.

And then immediately cancel that show.

I do not understand why anyone would find those 3 any more interesting than a random meatball in the stands.  Maybe Stephen A.  Sometimes his delivery is good comedy.  But the other two?  They are literally what you can hear at any bar, any night.

[Wilson A2000]

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered’s recent episode with Dan McNeil was a really good listen

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Dan Bernstein Unfiltered’s recent episode with Dan McNeil was a really good listen

It took a bit of an unexpected dark turn for a holiday episode, but yeah it was a really good conversation.

[BigSlick]

I miss Dan McNeil (DAH MAHNEIIILLLL) and him and Spiegel was a perfect pairing. 

I find the 670 lineup these days very bland. But I've mostly enjoyed Bernstein + Matt Abbattacola. Maybe I just long for the old glory days of B&B. 

[Wilson A2000]

6 hours ago, BigSlick said:

I miss Dan McNeil (DAH MAHNEIIILLLL) and him and Spiegel was a perfect pairing. 

I find the 670 lineup these days very bland. But I've mostly enjoyed Bernstein + Matt Abbattacola. Maybe I just long for the old glory days of B&B. 

Spiegel is good, but the personalities just aren’t there anymore. They have all left, retired, or gotten fired. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

I would really like to know whether Bernstein's new podcast has taken a meaningful bite out of the Score's ratings.  I used to listen to the Score throughout the day, but I don't think I have turned it on once since I started listening to the new podcast.  I have no idea how many others like me are out there, but it seems reasonable to think that adding a new media entity into the mix would hurt the existing terrestrial stations/shows.

 

[Brian707]

23 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I would really like to know whether Bernstein's new podcast has taken a meaningful bite out of the Score's ratings.  I used to listen to the Score throughout the day, but I don't think I have turned it on once since I started listening to the new podcast.  I have no idea how many others like me are out there, but it seems reasonable to think that adding a new media entity into the mix would hurt the existing terrestrial stations/shows.

 

I listen from time to time. Just feels weird it isn't live. But maybe Im an old horsefeathers?

As for Spiegel and Holmes, yesterday they had Seth Rollins on. I remember at the draft he was taunting Green Bay. His interview yesterday was awesome, that dude knows football and how to talk trash.

Edited December 3, 2025 by Brian707

[Wilson A2000]

23 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

I would really like to know whether Bernstein's new podcast has taken a meaningful bite out of the Score's ratings.  I used to listen to the Score throughout the day, but I don't think I have turned it on once since I started listening to the new podcast.  I have no idea how many others like me are out there, but it seems reasonable to think that adding a new media entity into the mix would hurt the existing terrestrial stations/shows.

 

165th most popular sports podcast on Apple Podcasts with a lot more reviews than shows that have been around longer and ranked ahead of him. We’ll see how well the Score does during the sweeps, but if the Bears, Hawks, Cubs, and Bulls are good, 670’s ratings will be high no matter what. If they aren’t, the midday show is going to get hammered because it’s just not very good. 

[Thurman Merman]

3 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

165th most popular sports podcast on Apple Podcasts with a lot more reviews than shows that have been around longer and ranked ahead of him. We’ll see how well the Score does during the sweeps, but if the Bears, Hawks, Cubs, and Bulls are good, 670’s ratings will be high no matter what. If they aren’t, the midday show is going to get hammered because it’s just not very good. 

I don't ever really have a chance to listen to midday, but leila and grote are a couple of my favorite personalities at the score.  I'd say the bigger problem is that spiegel and holmes don't work nearly as well as parkins and spiegel did (and tanny and Shane).

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, Thurman Merman said:

I don't ever really have a chance to listen to midday, but leila and grote are a couple of my favorite personalities at the score.  I'd say the bigger problem is that spiegel and holmes don't work nearly as well as parkins and spiegel did (and tanny and Shane).

Parkins was great and having him and Bernstein both be gone within 6 months of each other is something you just can’t make up for. 

Did we ever figure out why Shane was canned? Laurence denied it, but I think he didn’t like him and wanted him gone.

Edited December 4, 2025 by Wilson A2000

[NOLA]

This photo from the NBA site tonight is fantastic.

 

Edited December 5, 2025 by NOLA

[Wilson A2000]

Silvy is not a fan of Chuck Swirsky