In Buffalo, Alan Pergament notes local Sinclair Broadcast Group stations -- WUTV-Fox and WNYO-TV -- are "in jeopardy of going off DirecTV" at 4:00pm ET tomorrow because of the "same transmission issue" that caused local Nexstar stations WIVB-CBS and WNLO-CW to be off the satellite provider from July 4-Aug. 29. The negotiations are about "how much AT&T will pay Sinclair to carry its stations on DirecTV." Sinclair has 136 stations in 86 markets that "reportedly will be impacted if a deal isn't reached." The timing is "worse than it was in the Nexstar case when the networks were mostly carrying reruns." As a Fox affiliate, WUTV carries NFL games and also will be carrying the World Series starting Oct. 22 (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/26).
STORY TIME: THE ATHLETIC's Evan Drellich noted 81-year-old Yankees radio announcer John Sterling has a podcast, which he uses to "regale fans with his tales, outside of the normal WFAN broadcasts." Sterling said the podcast started after a "couple guys came to me from Boston." Sterling: "They said, 'We have this idea for you to do a podcast.' And frankly, they do all the work, and they originate it, produce it, time it, sell it, and I only have to sit down and tell stories. And so they came to my apartment, last I'd say November, and I reeled off about 10 long stories, among my favorite stories that I've put together." Sterling added they "had to make a deal with FAN, and FAN is involved, which allows me to promote it on the air" (THEATHLETIC.com, 9/24).
DIFFERENT VIEWS: In Philadelphia, Rob Tornoe noted former NFLer Hollis Thomas is "out" at WIP-FM. Appearing on on former WIP host John Innes' podcast, Thomas said that he was "no longer employed by the station due to a dispute over his involvement with Green Legion Radio." Thomas said that WIP Program Dir Spike Eskin "told him he was not allowed to continue appearing on the Green Legion Radio podcast because the company considered it a conflict of interest." Thomas has worked as a WIP host since '11, and at one point "co-hosted the station's afternoon show alongside Innes and Eskin, prior to Innes' firing from the station" in '16 (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/25).
