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Welcome to Episode 70! We bring on Doug from Twitter (@dougie_fresh055) for a rollicking ride of all things Bill Simmons.
We first hit on Bill Simmons current events, including what will surely be a hilariously petty response to LeBron's podcast with JJ; in fact, this likely explains the uptick in cheap shots Bill's taken at LeBron lately.
Next we look back at Doug's Bill Simmons tweets starting as early as 2012. We see the highs (mailbags, NBA Draft, Grantland, Countdown, Bill & Jalen's Previews) before Bill's descent: It started with the KD pods, Bill's first shows that felt transactional rather than an earnest conversation. Then we get to JackieMac's awful pods, some of the worst NBA audio content there ever was - why did Bill think this was good radio? And finally, we get to the Ringer lackey phase - Bill can't do better than Ruiz & Solak?
After our journey to Nadir Canyon, we discuss how both Guess the Lines and the Russillo NBA pods are stale - does Ryen even like doing them anymore? We think it's a Bill problem, not a Russillo issue. Part of what is plaguing Bill is his extreme arrogance, with guests not wanting to push back, afraid of offending only child Bill.
We close out the pod comparing Bill to his peer group Russillo, Cowherd and Nick Wright - some of these guys are doing better than others.
Hope you enjoy! And thank you to Wiser Times music for the intro song and Zach Blatter for the cover art.
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That’s right — an entire show talking Ringer Union. The BS Pod has continued to be released despite no contract after it expired, yet Bill added a disclaimer today that The Ringer is “owned, managed and operated by Spotify” - was this an attempt to pass the buck? We say yes. Bill not only has significant influence at Spotify, but he’s also Head of Podcast Monetization & Innovation!
We then get into the crux of the Ringer Union issue and wonder how Bill got himself into this in the first place. Incredibly, the hold up seems to be creative rights in AI, which Bill has discussed in-depth with guests on his podcast including Derek Thompson and Matt Belloni. Why hasn’t this been solved yet?
We next talk The Ringer at large and why it hasn't been successful at developing talent, before reviewing the first Ringer Union timeline and how they ultimately got a deal. You won’t want to miss this breakdown.
If you liked the pod, check out Neil on Twitter: @NeilYayamanj
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Welcome to another episode! We bring back r/BS Pod OGs Pop & Bob — these guys have been here from the beginning. We haven't done a 3-man weave since late October, so we needed to get another evolutionary Ric Bucher, Steiny Mo and BS Report-era Bill Simmons 3-man weave episode out with so much going on in BS Land.
We start with how we're holding up during this BS Pod break (some Russillo, Bill on another pod) before talking Derek Thompson's last appearance. In the spirit of Derek we do a little social commentary for where everything's going in 2024, and touch on his Ozempic takes.
Next we talk Russillo's appearance on Pardon My Take and contrast it with him on the BS Pod; we get an all-time analogy from Bob on this dynamic. We also continue our discussion of whether Ryen would leave for Barstool and conclude that he probably doesn't fit in there.
Then we do a Bill Simmons subreddit check-in, talking state of the sub, some recent top posts and memes, and celebrate one poster with an incredible batting and slugging percentage — someone even asked if he's the evolutionary Knife Guy. Plus, did the sub have too many posts about fixing the NBA All-Star game?
We then talk about the absurdity of Bill's guys Michael Rubin messing up the MLB uniforms and Doc Rivers going on a media tour during the season, before finishing up with Pop with McAfee vs. Simmons commentary. Then Bob stays on for a fantasy football season recap. Enjoy!
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Welcome to Episode 67! We bring back fan favorite Zach (@_zachblatter) from Episode 55 for a return visit to The Ringer & Bill Simmons' video, social media and growth strategies. Zach (Brand Manager at The Strickland) is highly experienced in the field as anyone who listened to #55 can attest to and once again brings a variety of excellent ideas to the pod.
We first discuss The Ringer's video progress in 2024. In Episode 55 Zach highlighted The Ringer's lack of focus on video, especially short-form, and thus we begin by evaluating Bill's new YouTube Shorts content and strategy. Bill also just last week finally got a high-res camera - another discussion point in Episode 55 - which is promising but has not yet been utilized effectively in his content. And, while The Ringer has begun posting more YouTube clips, we don't think it's enough. Our overall assessment is that while The Ringer & Bill have made progress here, and it's a good start, there's a long way to go.
Next we discuss The Ringer's social media. Zach brings the receipts and they are not positive - The Ringer barely has a presence on a variety of social media sites compared with their competitors. We formulate a gameplan for what The Ringer could do to massively boost their numbers. With so much good content generated from the site, the podcasts, Bill Simmons' tweets and more, this is a huge missed opportunity that would not take much additional effort in our view.
We then finish up the pod discussing Bill Simmons current events, including his enjoyable pod with Derek Thompson, JJ Redick and Pat McAfee market correcting him, and discuss the shock of no BS/Russillo pod this week - Zach had never listened to Pardon My Take before but did for the Russillo NBA Preview, and we suspect he wasn't the only one. We also touch on what a new NBA rights deal could look like if YouTube gets involved.
Hope you enjoy the show! Find Zach and his work (he created there podcast cover art) on Twitter @_zachblatter. Also thank you to Wiser Times (@WiserTimesmusic) for the intro song.
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Welcome to a jam packed episode with Jake from Twitter (@DeAnime69)! We start off with Bill Simmons current events. Mark Titus recently spoke not so glowingly about Bill on a podcast, so we discuss their falling out - Bill used to refer to Mark as his "illegitimate son" - as well as Titus' career progression to date, including some drawbacks of being at Barstool, and why he and Tate ultimately parted ways.
Next we get further into the Simmons vs. McAfee feud, with excellent context from Jake who has been listening to both guys for several years now. We also hit on why Pardon My Take has been market correcting Bill for some listeners and Jake tells us why he does *not* think Russillo would ever leave for Barstool.
We then hit on the original reason we wanted to record the show - Jake attended the Live Rewatchables in DC! We get a behind the scenes look at the event. Plus, we have some Rewatchables discussion, including the age old "Should Bill be releasing the movie ahead of time" debate.
Next we play a game called "Guess the Lines - Apex Mountain or Nadir Canyon?" where Jake prepared some quotes from Guess the Lines seasons starting at the beginning, ultimately begging the question of whether Bill's football analysis has always been as shoddy as it was this last season.
We then have a discussion of Bill's baseball book "Now I Can Die in Peace," which Jake recently read, and which features some absolutely classic but also outrageous Bill columns. It is must read if you haven't yet.
We finish up the episode talking Bill Simmons, The Ringer and Spotify and predict his next move.
Hope you enjoy! And thank you to Wiser Times for the intro music and Zach Blatter for the cover art.
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Bill Simmons has been chirping at Pat McAfee for months. A few weeks back Bill ripped off a lengthy impression making in fun of McAfee on his show. This closely followed Bill & Cousin Sal's buddy Jimmy Kimmel being miffed at McAfee guest Aaron Rodgers.
McAfee waited a month, but today landed what I consider a nuclear blast on Simmons - audio included in the first two minutes of the pod.
In today's episode I break down the origins of the beef, why this was such an epic killshot by Pat, why Bill Simmons is finding himself in multiple beefs these days, and a lot more.
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Welcome to Episode 64! We bring on Brett (@CCM_Brett) from the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast (@chitchatstocks) for a deep dive into Spotify. The company's been in the news lately following a robust earnings report celebrated by Wall Street and their new deal with Joe Rogan, where he will still be with Spotify, but non-exclusive to their platform.
On the pod we discuss 1) Why investors liked the recent earnings report, 2) Why does Spotify's music business keep growing so quickly, 3) Why Spotify got into podcasting, 4) How The Ringer helped their podcasting plans, 5) The implications of Joe Rogan's new deal, and 6) The future of Spotify podcasting, including where Bill Simmons and The Ringer fit going forward.
After that, we finish the pod talking sports media current events, including the new sports streaming service announced by Disney/Fox/Warner Bros. Discovery and Netflix's WWE deal.
If you liked the show, check out Brett on the Chit Chat Stocks Podcast at the following link: https://open.spotify.com/show/4SBtOWGEOmD9pmltgIXO8r
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Welcome to Episode 63! We had massive news last week with Joe Rogan re-upping his Spotify deal, but with major changes to his initial contract. We bring back Neil from Episode 62 to break it all down.
First, this deal is much different than Joe's previous deal, as he's going non-exclusive and Spotify will help with ads and distribution, including on YouTube. The contract is also structured as a lower guaranteed payout with revenue sharing, and Spotify aims to do this with all their top podcast deals.
Thus, what does this mean for Bill Simmons' future? We speculate, including our thoughts that this deal actually means Bill will *not* re-up at Spotify - unless he truly is in Keep Cashin' Dem Checks Mode for good.
We also talk podcasting and audio in general and assess the future of the medium, including lessons learned from Pardon My Take, Call Her Daddy and Rogan's pod - when and why did Bill lose the #1 sports podcast to PMT?
We finish up with a recap of the Larry David BS Pod. Enjoy!
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Welcome to Episode 62! We bring on Neil from Twitter (@NeilYayamanj) to discuss his journey of Bill Simmons fanhood over the last several years. This is the spiritual sequel to the fan favorite 4-hour Epic, Definitive Bill Simmons Retrospective, this time exploring in depth the period of Bill Simmons from 2017-2024.
We kick off the pod talking about Neil's introduction to Bill and how he immediately took to him as he was yearning for sports talk. Bill mixed in other qualitative features that made him a great listen and hang, and Neil earnestly began his Podcast friendship or "pod-ship."
And for awhile, the pod-ship was great. Bill was the guy you could talk to at the bar who knew his stuff on sports and pop culture. Neil enjoyed his celebrity interviews, inside look at stories like Magic resigning from the Lakers, and his understanding of sports and pop culture as a plugged in operator.
But then we hit on the dissolution of the pod-ship. Bill started outright going through the motions and mailing it in, including zero mention of baseball (even though he made his name on the sport) and his MIA Mark Cuban selling the Mavs and McAfee vs. Norby takes. We also examine Bill's personality on his Smartness and Marc Maron appearances.
We finish up how Bill finalized his journey from epic columnist and podcaster to Shill Simmons.
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Welcome to Episode 61! We bring on Henry from Twitter for a classic r/BS Pod episode. After discussing our backgrounds with Bill, we hit on several topics:
— Why does he focus so much on announcers & pre-game shows?
— What's worse these days, his NFL takes or NBA takes?
— Ringer employees: Who is good, who isn't?
— Downfall of The Rewatchables
— His overall hypocrisy
We also discuss Bill's KD takes, and use Bill's own The Book of Basketball to show how 2024 Bill Simmons is massively overrating KD based on 2010 Bill Simmons' Pyramid rankings formula.
Hope you enjoy, and thank you to Wiser Times for the intro song (@WiserTimesmusic) and Zach Blatter for the podcast art (@_zachblatter)
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Welcome to Episode 59! The Peacock game is all the rage with wild takes left and right all week.
As someone that works in sports media, I had to break it down. This is an EXCELLENT move for Peacock, and makes a ton of strategic sense for the NFL long-term. I go through the streaming and media landscape in 2024 to explain why.
Thank you to @_zachblatter for the podcast art and @WiserTimesmusic for the intro song
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Welcome to Episode 58! We bring on Bridger, the founder and editor in chief of New Grantland. That's right - a website dedicated to continuing the legacy and spirit of the epic Bill Simmons led ESPN project in the early 2010s.
We start off discussing what we both loved about Grantland, and why it truly was a once in a generation publication and also the last of its kind in the internet era. Also, why hasn't Bill done the same with The Ringer?
We then discuss the evolution of sports media and reference one of Bridger's articles for the site. How did Twitter kill the sports journalist? We next discuss the evolution of Bill Simmons and his writing career in classic r/BS Pod form.
If you liked the show, check out https://newgrantland.com and give a follow on Twitter & Instagram @newgrantland!
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Pat McAfee called out his boss and the #3 executive at ESPN by name on Friday's show.
He not only didn't get suspended, but was back on ESPN on Monday doubling down, talking up his relationships with Bob Iger and ESPN's CEO and #2 exec, having on top ESPN talent from the national championship game set, and being front and center for College GameDay.
At least for now, McAfee has achieved a resounding victory.
We also dive into the history of Norby Williamson and how his strategic leaking has been an open secret for years.
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We have a special emergency podcast for a fast developing massive sports media story. We start with why Pat McAfee is at ESPN in the first place; ESPN is experiencing quickly declining profits and felt the need to take a high risk (and potential high reward) move.
Next we discuss who Norby Williamson is (one of the most powerful people at ESPN) and his alleged use of strategic leaking to sports media reporters to gain power.
We then assess the current state of play for why Pat believes Norby is sabotaging his show, and what the motivation could be for Norby to do so.
Throughout the pod and at the end, we discuss other major sports media personalities who have had run ins with Norby - including Bill Simmons, Jemele Hill and Dan LeBatard - and why we wouldn't be surprised if they're privately rooting for Norby to finally get his comeuppance.
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Welcome to Episode 55! We bring on Zach (@_zachblatter on Twitter) from The Strickland (@TheStrickland), a Knicks-focused podcast, to talk Bill, Russillo, sports media, podcasts and more.
The timing for this pod couldn't have been better given the RJ Barrett trade, so Zach gives his initial reaction and we discuss takes from Bill and KOC on the news.
Next we get into Zach's background with Bill, being a relatively new fan, and how Russillo has market corrected Bill for him, like many of our guests - including Ryen's Life Advice, the evolutionary Page 2 Simmons mailbag.
From there, we give Bill some free advice on what to do to grow The Ringer - if he's interested. Since Zach both is a brand manager for The Strickland (Knicks content) and a younger sports fan (early 20s), he has a variety of thoughts for how Bill and The Ringer can - but are not currently - capturing the attention of the younger sports fans. Unlike, for example, Bleacher Report or JJ Redick's podcast, Bill and The Ringer have not embraced new school ways to grow his media business, and we suspect that's hurting their performance.
We then discuss some interactions Zach/The Strickland have had with KOC and Bill himself, including the infamous Brunson clip where Bill hated on him but then called The Strickland's edit "disingenuous" (it wasn't) - just take the L Bill (https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/1626678191237783557)
Next we talk the upcoming NBA rights deal, including how the NBA should follow in the footsteps of the NFL doing a deal with YouTube, which leads into a conversation of how younger people watch sports these days. We finish up discussing Zach's take on KD including Bill's KD's ranking, and if Bill can land the plane on the Vince WWE documentary.
If you liked the pod, check out Zach and The Strickland on Twitter, and a big thank you to Zach for his graphic design for the show's new cover art - you can find the link to his work on his Twitter.
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Welcome to Episode 54! We bring on Richie from Twitter for a wide ranging conversation on Bill Simmons and the state of the BS Pod & The Ringer.
Richie is a Simmons fan from the Page 2 days that recently started listening to the show again and has noticed a major drop on Bill's fastball. What was the reason for the decline? We discuss how Bill became what he used to rail against in the mid-90s - an older, past his prime media member mailing it in.
Next we discuss the absurdity of Bill's "it's not open mic night" comments and then get into how Bill is very much like the Dave Matthews Band, or really any band that makes it big, and then runs out of steam after their passion for the art decreases as their life improves.
We then talk Russillo's ascendance and wonder where Bill's interviewing skills have gone, as Ryen has surpassed him in this regard, by a lot. Russillo can listen to his guests and prepares great questions, while Bill constantly interrupts and tries to one up guests by making the same joke again, but less funnier. Did this fly in the Kimmel writing room?
We finish up laughing at how bad Bill's ad reads are, which are just indicative of, in our view, how little effort he's putting into the BS Pod these days.
Thanks for listening and be sure to check out the music of Wiser Times here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2XiRm7fyJD4pxKO0KroEyG
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The Wall Street Journal just broke the news that Amazon is in discussions to invest in Diamond Sports, the owner of Bally's Sports Networks. This could have a major impact on the future of sports rights and specifically NBA rights.
In this episode I discuss why Diamond Sports has performed so poorly and had to go bankrupt, what the leagues are looking to get from the bankruptcy, what Amazon is looking to do with an investment, the different motivations of the creditors, and how this might change the NBA rights deal negotiations.
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That's right — a four and a half hour podcast. Call the r/BS Pod the evolutionary JRE. We bring back Smug (@SmugFecundity on Twitter) for his 3rd appearance, after the legendary Epic, Definitive 4-Hour Bill Simmons Career Retrospective (Episode 25), the most popular r/BS Pod episode (1100 listens) besides the Harry & Meghan reaction pod that got picked up by UK media.
For the first part of the pod we talk Bill Simmons current events: Why has the BS Pod gone downhill of late, does Bill need a refresh to bring back his creative juices, why Russillo keeps ascending, and what was the reason for the JJ beef? This is classic r/BS Pod content from one of our Mount Rushmore guests.
In part two (starting at 1 hour and 32 minutes in) we get wonkier - Smug is a father of SEVEN children and we have our first ever r/BS Parent Corner. Bill has taken us inside the life of being a parent for the last decade and 3 quarters, and that has picked up lately with his daughter off to college. We discuss Bill's feelings and then get into parenting in general - Bill is an avatar for parenting in the current age - and why Smug believes people should not only be having kids, but having big families, jiving with Bill's recent comments that he wished he had more kids. This is content that non-BS Pod fans can enjoy.
We also hit on the ascendence of Noah Eagle over Al Michaels and ask who's public persona is more true vs. their actual self, Bill or Dave Portnoy.
If you liked the show, follow @SmugFecundity on Twitter!
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Welcome to Episode 51! In today's show I break down two hot media stories. Why is Disney licensing content to Netflix, and what does it mean for the Streaming Wars? What are experts now saying about the NBA's upcoming media deal? And how do they relate to one another? We break it down.
This is a must listen for those who follow streaming and sports media closely.
- Visa fler