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YES Network Not Returning For YouTubeTV Customers

“Sinclair agreed to a deal that will see YouTube TV carry 19 of their 21 FOX RSNs.”

Brandon Contes

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YES Network

Less than a week after YouTube TV announced they were unable to reach an agreement with Sinclair Broadcast Group and would subsequently drop FOX Regional Sports Networks from their lineup, the two sides found common ground.

Sinclair agreed to a deal that will see YouTube TV carry 19 of their 21 FOX RSNs. The two FOX RSNs left on the outside are in the two largest markets, the YES Network in New York and Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West in Los Angeles.

“We are pleased that YouTube TV was able to agree to terms on 19 of our RSNs and that they will continue to provide subscribers with access to some of the most in-demand sports networks in the nation,” said David Gibber, SVP and general counsel of Sinclair. “Millions of fans across the country tune into sports content daily and, at Sinclair, our goal is to make this as widely accessible as possible.”

But the YES Network was not nearly as pleased with the agreement between YouTube TV and Sinclair. 

“YouTube TV, for its own selfish reasons and with total disregard for its YES customers, has refused to pay the market rate and accept market terms and conditions that other YES distributors have agreed to.  In fact, YouTube TV sought a rate that was well below what other YES distributors are paying, and because YES keeps its word to all of its distributors, it could not make the deal,” YES Network said in a statement released on Twitter.

“When YouTube TV realized it could not get a sweetheart, below-market deal, it dropped the YES Network.”

“Sinclair, for its own reasons, elected to make a deal for some but not all of its programming services which excluded large-market RSNs featuring iconic franchises and star players.  The New York Yankees have made it clear to Major League Baseball and YouTube TV that the Yankees will not appear on any national games televised by YouTube TV through its national telecast agreement with Major League Baseball.   We urge all of our fans to go to YESNetwork.com to see the list of other streaming services and other distributors that carry the YES Network. With YouTube TV no longer carrying YES, it appears as though YouTube TV customers will pay the same while getting less,” the statement said.

Other streaming services that do offer YES are Hulu Live TV and AT&T TV Now. Also left out of the deal with YouTube TV is Sinclair’s Marquee Sports Network, the new TV home of the Chicago Cubs. Marquee recently announced a partnership with Hulu, allowing in-market fans to stream Cubs games on the platform. 

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Sports Illustrated Accused of Attributing AI-Generated Stories to Fake Human Authors

Futurism reports that “Sports Illustrated” and other publications from The Arena Group have been attributing AI-generated articles to fabricated human authors.

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Sports Illustrated
Courtesy: Sports Illustrated

As the prevalence of artificial intelligence continues to grow within the evolving media marketplace, there have been discussions regarding the ethics of the practice. A report from Futurism asserts that Sports Illustrated has been using the technology to publish articles written by the software, purchasing automatically generated profile photos from an online marketplace in order to give the author a human identity.

Within the report, it was averred that the publication routinely alters the AI personas on the website by changing the faux name and author photo, with there being no explanation towards the move. When Futurism reached out to The Arena Group – the publisher of Sports Illustrated – with questions about the practice, the AI personalities were hastily removed from the website.

Several industry professionals have commented on the matter through social media, expressing their dismay and concerns about the purported revelation. Outside of Sports Illustrated, Futurism discovered that many other publications have engaged in the practice, including CNET, Gizmodo and BuzzFeed. When the authors were changed on Sports Illustrated, there was no editorial note describing the rationale behind the decision. An anonymous source told Futurism that the content is “absolutely AI-generated no matter how much they say it’s not,” leading to dismay and interest in how the company will respond.

“Our staff works so hard to carry on Sports Illustrated’s tradition of great journalism,” senior writer Michael Rosenberg said in a post on X. “It’s so disappointing when people* in our own company undermine our work.”

After some time, the magazine eventually added a disclaimer that outlined the content being created by a third party and that Sports Illustrated editorial staff were not involved in its creation. There was no explicit mention, however, of the third party being AI technology, which is ostensibly being used across different publications throughout The Arena Group’s portfolio such as theStreet and Men’s Journal.

“Along with basic principles of honesty, trust, journalistic ethics, etc., I take seriously the weight of a Sports Illustrated byline,” magazine staff writer Emma Baccellieri said in a post on X. “It meant something to me long before I ever dreamed of working here. This report was horrifying to read.”

In a statement from a spokesperson for The Arena Group, the company disclosed that it is not accurate based on an initial investigation. These articles in question were product reviews supplied by AdVon Commerce, whose e-commerce articles ran on certain websites under the ownership of the company.

“We continually monitor our partners and were in the midst of a review when these allegations were raised,” the statement read. “AdVon has assured us that all of the articles in questions were written and edited by humans.”

AdVon’s writers, editors and researchers create and curate content while following a policy that utilizes counter-plagiarism and counter-AI software. The Arena Group has ended the partnership after discovering that the company had its writers use contrived identities to protect the privacy of the authors, actions it claims to “strongly condemn.” An internal investigation is continuing looking into the matter.

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Shannon Sharpe: Charles Barkley and Michael Strahan Showed Me I Can Do Media

“When I saw Charles Barkley could be himself, could talk with the dialect that he had, was unapologetically not afraid to make fun of himself, I said, ‘I could do that.’”

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Shannon Sharpe
Courtesy: Richard Shotwell, Invision, The Associated Press

Shannon Sharpe has built a successful sports media career after his Hall of Fame NFL career. He said seeing Charles Barkley and Michael Strahan work on television gave him the green light.

During his Nightcap podcast alongside another former NFL star, Chad Johnson, Shannon Sharpe said seeing other former athletes be themselves on television showed him he could do the same.

“When I saw Charles Barkley could be himself, could talk with the dialect that he had, was unapologetically not afraid to make fun of himself, I said, ‘I could do that.’ I’ve got just as good as sense of humor, I could tell stories, I can do that,” Shannon Sharpe said.

“I see Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, I see Stephen A. doing what he’s doing, I said, ‘I could do that’ … I just wanted someone to give me the opportunity,” Sharpe continued. “Be prepared when the opportunity presents itself.”

Sharpe turned working for The NFL Today into a role with Skip Bayless on FS1’s Undisputed. He now appears frequently on First Take in addition to his podcast with Johnson for The Volume.

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Nick Wright: Thanksgiving Food Hot Takes ‘The Worst Thing We in Sports Media Do’

“I think it is the most cliche, terrible content imaginable, so I won’t engage in it.”

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Nick Wright on First Things First
Courtesy: FS1

Every year at Thanksgiving, sports talk radio shows discuss food selections around the holiday. It is safe to say FS1’s Nick Wright despises the discussions.

While appearing on The Mine Kimes Show featuring Lenny, Wright was asked by Kimes about for his opinions on the food.

“Do you have any takes about Thanksgiving food?,” Kimes asked.

“It would be a rude answer, but since you have asked it, I will give it. My hottest take about Thanksgiving foods is it is the worst thing we in sports media do,” retorted Wright. “It’s like ‘Hey, are you stuffing or dressing? Pumpkin or sweet potato? Are you more of the sides? You know what is an overrated meat? Turkey. Nobody wants turkey!’

“I think it is the most cliche, terrible content imaginable, so I won’t engage in it, Mina Kimes.”

“Wow. Your hottest take is that my question sucks,” Kimes replied. “From the LeBron guy? Really? Coming at me over topic selection.”

The video of the pair’s interaction was posted to X, formerly Twitter, after Wright specifically asked Kimes to release the clip. The discussion has garnered more than 400,000 as of this publication.

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