What the heck is going on with NFL Network?

First, it appears to be sabotaging the excellent show “Good Morning Football” by moving it out of New York City and to Los Angeles, which likely means a shakeup of staff both in front of and behind the camera.

Maybe it’ll all work out, and there’s a method to what now appears to be madness. But I do know this much: “Good Morning Football” has found its groove in recent years and is (or was) one of the best sports studio shows on television. Why mess with it? Just rinse and repeat and continue to have a highly watchable show.

Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina wrote, “While we don’t know yet about changes to the on-air staff, we do know the production team for ‘GMFB’ won’t be moving to L.A. So the NFL is taking a popular show that works extremely well and stripping it of its support staff and moving it from the exciting and gritty New York City to laid-back L.A. and making the hosts go live on the air at 5 a.m. local time.”

Traina added that it’s hard to see some of the “farewell to New York” videos from on-air talent and not think of it as “an end of an era.”

Then came this news Thursday as first reported by Andrew Marchand for The Athletic: The NFL Network is letting go of four on-air personalities. They are Melissa Stark, Andrew Siciliano, James Palmer and Will Selva — all of whom are well respected in the business. (Stark remains a sideline reporter for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”)

Stark had been at NFL Network for 12 years. Siciliano started there in 2005. Selva had been there for a decade. Palmer joined NFL Media in 2015.

What gives? Doesn’t the NFL print money? Why all the shuffling?

NFL Network spokesperson Alex Riethmiller told The Athletic, “As is normal course of business this time of year, we are evaluating our talent roster for the upcoming 2024 season and beyond. That process results in renewals, non-renewals and additions to our talent lineup depending on programming needs. To those departing talent, we give our sincere thanks and appreciation for their hard work and contributions to NFL Media.”

Earlier this week, Awful Announcing’s Alex Reimer wrote, “GMFB‘s cross-country move is taking place during a turbulent time at NFL Media. Despite the NFL now approaching $12 billion in annual revenue, the league is slashing its media assets. Last year, NFL Network laid off about 5 percent of its staff and was criticized for doing so in the wake of new sources of revenue. Early this year, Andrew Marchand reported ESPN and the NFL were in ‘advanced talks’ that would give the league an equity stake in the Disney-owned property, but nothing has materialized as of yet.”

This ESPN-NFL talk may have a lot to do with all this. Still, the latest is sad news. A really good morning show might turn sour and, more importantly, some really talented people just got let go.

The future of SI

Oh, speaking of Jimmy Traina, good news about his Sports Illustrated sports media podcast. It’s returning. It had been off for a short spell as all the mess with Sports Illustrated and its future was sorted out.

But Traina wrote in his column Thursday, “I will spare you the details and just tell you that Sports Illustrated is not dead — by a long shot. The magazine is alive. The website is alive. Our social channels are alive. My column is alive and my podcast is alive. Any reports of SI’s demise are 100% wrong.”

Traina’s first episode after the brief hiatus was a conversation with sport-talk legend (and occasional ESPN “First Take” guest) Chris “Mad Dog” Russo.

As nonprofit journalism matures, what’s next?

Here’s an item from my colleague Annie Aguiar, Poynter’s audience engagement producer.

In a troubled media industry, many look to nonprofit newsrooms as role models. But as the nonprofit sector of the industry matures, what’s next?

We’ll be having a LinkedIn Live audio discussion with Poynter contributor Amaris Castillo, Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds and Institute for Nonprofit News chief network officer Jonathan Kealing to talk a bit more about the state of nonprofit news and what we can learn from notable nonprofit newsrooms and longer-running startup shops.

One peer to learn from is New Orleans’ pioneering nonprofit The Lens, kept alive for going on 15 years under the guidance of artist-turned-journalist Karen Gadbois.

Castillo spent months reporting on Gadbois and The Lens as a case study for the industry for her story, “In New Orleans, a pioneering nonprofit newsroom ponders a future beyond its founder,” and will speak about the newsroom as a case study for the nonprofit sector.

Save the date and join us next Wednesday, April 10 at 4 p.m.

And now onto more media news, tidbits and recommended links for your weekend …

• Greg Gutfeld is sticking around at Fox News. Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports Gutfeld has signed a contract extension with Fox. Gutfeld will continue as co-host on “The Five,” as well as hosting his nightly show “Gutfeld,” which takes a lighter look at the news with a supposed humorous spin. I’ve checked in on “Gutfeld” occasionally and found it rather unfunny, with writing that seems to come from the “first joke that popped into our heads” philosophy as opposed to the more nuanced and clever comedy of, say, “The Daily Show.” But apparently enough people like it that Gutfeld is considered a valuable personality at Fox.
• Hallie Jackson begins her stint as the permanent anchor of Sunday’s “NBC Nightly News” this Sunday (6:30 p.m. Eastern). Jackson, anchor of “Hallie Jackson NOW” on NBC News NOW and NBC News’ senior Washington correspondent, takes over for Kate Snow, who stepped away to work on her other NBC News assignments.
• Check this out. Sorry, couldn’t help the bad pun. But, when it comes to stories about blue verification check marks on X, bad puns are the only way to get through it. Here’s The Washington Post’s Will Oremus with “Musk’s X pivots again, restoring blue checks to popular accounts.”
• NBC News’ Ryan J. Reilly with “Meet some of the violent Jan. 6 rioters Donald Trump keeps calling ‘hostages.’”
• For The Atlantic, Gary Shteyngart with “Crying myself to sleep on the biggest cruise ship ever.”
• The Washington Post’s Hannah Natanson, Lauren Tierney and Clara Ence Morse with “America has legislated itself into competing red, blue versions of education.”
• As a fan of Bravo and some of its reality TV candy, I read this piece closely. Note: this is for Los Angeles Times subscribers only. It’s Stacy Perman and Meredith Blake with “Andy Cohen turned Bravo into a cable powerhouse. Now the ‘king of reality TV’ faces his own drama.”
• Slate editor-in-chief Hillary Frey writes, “There are two things I require shortly after I wake up in the morning: coffee, of course, and games.” So Slate is going to join the fun. It has launched a daily crossword puzzle. Monday through Friday is what’s called a midi crossword (11 x 11) and on Sundays, it will have a full size crossword (15 x 15). Frey writes, “I was able to test out a few in advance, and they are perfectly cheeky, a little tough, and very fun. Whether you are a crossword novice like me or an experienced puzzle-doer, I think you’ll find our crossword offering to be fresh and challenging.”
• The White House Correspondents’ Association is out with its 2024 journalism award winners. Click here to see the winners.
• College basketball’s Final Four for both men and women in Division I is this weekend. The women’s semifinals are tonight and the men’s semifinals are Saturday. The championship games are Sunday for the women and Monday for the men. For the first time, there might be more interest in the women than the men with the women featuring star players Caitlin Clark (Iowa) and Paige Bueckers (UConn) and big-time coaches Geno Auriemma of UConn and Dawn Staley of undefeated South Carolina. Last week’s Iowa-LSU game drew a women’s college basketball record 12.3 million TV viewers. Could this weekend reach those kinds of numbers for the women? Maybe. Either way, it figures to surpass 10 million and that’s impressive for any telecast. Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy writes, “ESPN-ABC holds exclusive rights to the women’s Final Four and national championship. The network is pulling out all the stops to capitalize on Clark Mania. ESPN will MegaCast Friday night’s Final Four coverage of South Carolina–NC State and Iowa-UConn, as well as sister network ABC’s subsequent coverage of the national championship game Sunday. Nearly a dozen ESPN platforms will offer their own angle on the Final Four, including a ‘Beyond the Rim’ presentation on ESPN+, featuring an aerial camera view and an enhanced statistical feed.”
• Jonathan Greenberger, the Washington bureau chief for ABC News, is headed to Politico to be executive vice president.

More resources for journalists

• Delve more deeply into your editing skills with Poynter ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing.
• TV producers, consider our Poynter Producer Project. Apply by April 14.
• Editorial Integrity and Leadership Initiative is a fellowship for public media journalists. Apply by April 22.
• Hiring? Post jobs on The Media Job Board — Powered by Poynter, Editor & Publisher and America’s Newspapers.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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