Sports TV News

Joy Taylor Explains Working With Each Of Her FS1 Co-Stars

“On this week’s edition of the All The Smoke podcast with NBA veterans Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Taylor was the guest and talked about her career journey. The FS1 host said that being able to do shows on-the road with Skip Baylees and Shannon Sharpe helped her develop in the business as she went from working at 790 AM The Ticket In Miami to where she is today.”

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2021

Ricky Keeler

Since 2016, one of the faces that viewers have seen on FS1 as part of the morning/early afternoon lineup has been on Joy Taylor. During these last five years, she has been the moderator of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed and been a part of The HERD with Colin Cowherd.

On this week’s edition of the All The Smoke podcast with NBA veterans Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Taylor was the guest and talked about her career journey. The FS1 host said that being able to do shows on-the road with Skip Baylees and Shannon Sharpe helped her develop in the business as she went from working at 790 AM The Ticket In Miami to where she is today.

“FOX has been great. It’s been a huge platform for me,” said Taylor. “I hadn’t done live national television. Working with Skip and Shannon was unbelievable. If you know Skip and Shannon, you know that’s an intense show to do.”

She understands that people think the opinions that Bayless and Sharpe give aren’t real takes, but that’s far from the truth and yes, they can agree on things.

“It’s just a well-produced show. They do topics they agree on sometimes because they have to do the topic, but they are going to come from their angle and that’s what makes the debate. It’s a question and then they naturally have other opinions.”

While she enjoyed working with Bayless and Sharpe, Taylor told Barnes and Jackson that she originally wanted to be an opinionist when she went to FS1. Taylor did do some fill-in work for Kristine Leahy while Leahy was Colin Cowherd’s sidekick, and when Leahy left The HERD, Taylor was able to fill in and make an easy transition to the show.

Taylor revealed on the podcast that she doesn’t deem a show to be successful solely on the ratings because she doesn’t worry about that. Instead, it’s all about the conversation that her and Cowherd have:

“If I feel like Colin was activated, that he has thought of something different or thinks about something different than the way he thought about it before doing the show, if we had good guests and the energy is flowing, that’s a good show for me.”

The key for Cowherd to doing a successful show, according to Taylor, is that he always wants to be prepared, which is why the daily show meetings can last two hours:

“We are going over every single topic, every single angle, all of the producers are weighing in, I’m weighing in, Colin is weighing in. It’s a completely different process to prep for the show. They are two different shows. He just preps so much. He doesn’t like having space where he is just rambling. He hates that.”

Joy Taylor called Shannon Sharpe one of the “biggest stars in sports media.” She says it is because the Hall of Fame knows not to take himself too seriously. As for Bayless, Taylor thinks that people don’t have a good understanding of who he is.

“A lot of people think Skip is very hard and mean. He’s a passionate person, so I think he’s misunderstood. They do a show where they give their opinion. Some people are going to like your opinion, some aren’t. I’ve seen Skip on the road. Don’t get it twisted. People love Skip and Skip loves the people. Skip is going to stand there after every show, shake everybody’s hand, take a picture with whoever is there, talk to them for as long as they want to talk to him. He understands the importance of people giving their time to us to watch the show.”

Ricky Keeler

Ricky Keeler is a reporter for BSM with a primary focus on sports media podcasts and national personalities. He is also an active podcaster with an interest in pursuing a career in sports media. You can find him on Twitter @Rickinator555 or reach him by email at [email protected].

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CBS Sports Shares Details of Spongebob-Themed NFL Broadcasts

Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson return to the booth for both games alongside Dylan Schefter and Young Dylan.

Published

3 hours ago

December 5, 2023

Jeff Kotuby

Get ready for some Turtles on Christmas and some SpongeBob on Super Bowl Sunday. CBS Sports and Nickelodeon are teaming up to deliver two alternate NFL broadcasts this year — one for the Monday night “Nickmas” game between the Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs, and then a second, SpongeBob Squarepants-themed broadcast for Super Bowl LVIII.

Noah Eagle and Nate Burleson return to the booth for both games alongside Dylan Schefter and Young Dylan. The live-action hosts will be joined by two groups of Nicktoons depending on the game.

SpongeBob and Patrick (voiced by Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke, respectively) will join Eagle and Burleson in the booth for Super Bowl LVIII, while Sandy and Larry the Lobster will provide some additional flair from the sidelines. The Bikini Bottom crew will be joined by Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey, who will explain penalties to the younger viewers. During the “Nickmas” Game on Dec. 25, the crew will be joined by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s Raphael in the booth, while Donatello will join Schefter on the sidelines.

The Christmas Day game will be Nickelodeon’s first regular-season game, as previous Nick alternate broadcasts were all during Wild Card Weekend. Last year, Nick aired an alternate broadcast of Cowboys/49ers, which drew an audience of 41 million viewers. The games have also become a social media phenomenon from adult viewers watching tongue-in-cheek.

The Nickelodeon Super Bowl telecast and Nickelodeon NFL Nickmas Game are produced by CBS Sports in association with Nickelodeon Productions.

Jeff Kotuby

Jeff Kotuby is a nationally-published journalist with bylines on many popular broadcasting and pop culture sites, including The Streamable, eBaum’s World, Twin Galaxies, and more. Jeff grew up in the shadows of New York City and cultivated his love for sports media with the classic broadcasting voices of the area, like Mike & The Mad Dog, Mike “Doc” Emerick, and Michael Kay. You can reach Jeff on Twitter @JeffKotu3y.

Sports TV News

Pat McAfee Calls Out Roger Goodell For Not Appearing on His Show

“Hey Rog? Don’t be scared, Rog. Put your big boy pants on. It’ll be good, Rog.”

Published

6 hours ago

December 5, 2023

Jeff Kotuby

Pat McAfee still wants a “white whale” guest on his show — and it’s becoming harder and harder for that guest to resist an interview feasibly.

On today’s The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee mentioned that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will appear on the program on the Dec. 6 episode, crediting ESPN for making it possible. McAfee then rifles off other commissioners that have appeared on his show, including NHL commish Gary Bettman and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, and mentions that MLS commissioner Don Garber was interested in coming on the show.

Notably, three of these four leagues mentioned currently maintain a broadcasting relationship with ESPN, with the fourth (MLS) previously having one before leaving for the bosom of Apple TV+.

One league partner’s commissioner who hasn’t appeared is Roger Goodell, the NFL’s controversial commish who rarely makes media appearances outside of the NFL sphere. McAfee has long desired an interview with Goodell and called out to the commissioner personally to come on — as only he can.

“Hey Rog? Don’t be scared, Rog,” McAfee said. “Put your big boy pants on. It’ll be good, Rog.”

Among the crew egging Goodell on was New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, who was in the studio with McAfee and gang. The QB hasn’t been one to mince words lately and seemed more than willing to join in on the Goodell teasing to bring him on his friend’s show.

Should the crew plus Rodgers be together to speak with Goodell, it could create an interesting dichotomy for Goodell. One outspoken current player and potentially multiple former players (McAfee, along with former Colts teammate Darius Butler and Rodgers’ former Packers teammate A.J. Hawk) would provide a unique interview experience for Goodell, who is used to very controlled, one-on-one interviews with more muted individuals on the other side.

For the record, McAfee and company also pointed out that MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred hasn’t appeared either, but the guys don’t seem too torn up about it.

Jeff Kotuby

Sports TV News

NBC Won’t Broadcast XFL/USFL After Merger

“We wish them success with the new league and their new partners.”

Published

7 hours ago

December 5, 2023

BSM Staff

NBC Sports broadcasted USFL games in its first two seasons since its resurrection, but that won’t continue in 2024.

As the two leagues prepare to merge, the new season won’t begin until March 30th. Due to pre-existing contracts for PGA Tour and other golf events, the network wasn’t able to commit to broadcasting the spring football league.

“We enjoyed our relationship with the USFL and Fox, but the new earlier schedule made it impossible for us to continue,” NBC Sports Executive Vice President of Communications Greg Hughes told Sports Business Journal. “We wish them success with the new league and their new partners.”

With the departure of NBC Sports, ESPN and FOX Sports will be the two television partners for the league.