Are sports television networks listening? When CBS pulled the plug on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, it ended a franchise player of the network for over 30 years—a direct head-to-head competitor that the network created to challenge its rival at NBC and their Tonight Show franchise. For generations, the back-and-forth ratings battle was intense, as every night seemed like must-see television with the two sides doing anything to entertain audiences to grasp the biggest number of viewers possible.
Does the cancellation of The Late Show serve as a warning shot to professional sports networks such as ESPN and FOX Sports?
Many will scoff at the idea of sports television networks canceling shows surrounding their sports programming. I get it. However, the reasoning CBS gave behind the cancellation should be heard loud and clear by everyone, including sports television networks.
Political leanings aside, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert cost a lot to produce. Reportedly, the price tag to create the program was near $100 million a year, with advertising revenue reportedly down over 50% compared to 2018. The show may have had the highest viewership of the competing late-night programs currently, but the amount of viewership compared to 2018 had also dwindled.
The Old Model Is a Formula for Disaster
Reduced revenue, ratings, and high expenses spell a formula for disaster in any type of media—especially in Colbert’s case, where a media company on the brink of being sold was looking to cut expenses and improve its bottom line in preparation for sale.
Isn’t this exactly what FOX Sports just went through with Breakfast Ball, The Facility, and Speak? High expense, low viewership, and limited revenue?
What is happening to The Late Show franchise is exactly the same as what happened with FOX Sports last week, which resulted in a phone call to Barstool Sports.
FOX Sports decided to license out their programming time slots in a partnership with the digital sports content hub, where Barstool (not FOX Sports) will produce a two-hour program to air on FS1 in the mornings to compete with ESPN’s Get Up. The show will then (reportedly) repeat from 10 a.m.–12 p.m. to go head-to-head against ESPN’s First Take.
In FOX Sports’ mind, why pay the massive freight for talent, staff, and production if you can pay someone else to do it for you? What’s to say CBS doesn’t follow that model for their coveted 11:35 p.m. time slot in May—replacing a personality-driven talk show with one that already thrives digitally that the network doesn’t have to invest in like the current Colbert model?
ESPN Programming Questions To Ponder
Could ESPN be next?
The simple question all these networks need to ask when it comes to programming is: Is the juice worth the squeeze? Is the amount of money any network (sports or non-sports) is shelling out to produce its own programming worth the investment? Is the product driving influence, viewership, and revenue enough to keep around?
Let’s look at a couple of examples with ESPN.
Was Tony Reali too expensive to keep around at ESPN? They canceled Around the Horn and have yet to give a reason why. Assuming each of the four panelists were compensated in some fashion, the network was compensating five talents per day, five days a week, for nearly 5,000 episodes. The network also siloed Reali from any other ESPN programming focusing his talents only on Around the Horn.
Was the juice worth the squeeze? Reali is now the most-sought after free-agent in sports television.
Dan Le Batard hinted the other day that Michael Wilbon’s contract runs up in August. Tony Kornheiser and Wilbon have been hosting Pardon The Interruption for nearly a quarter-century. Both are among the highest-paid talents at ESPN—but are they drawing more than a million viewers per episode? Not necessarily.
Is PTI’s juice worth the squeeze? Was their lead in a sign of things to come?
Stephen A. Smith is the highest-paid talent at ESPN, having just signed a reported 5-year, $100 million contract. Quick math: that’s about $20 million a year, which is more than Kornheiser and Wilbon combined. Using Colbert as a reference point, if The Late Show cost $100 million annually to produce, Stephen A. Smith’s contract would account for 20% of that cost by itself. Sure, First Take is number one in sports programming during that time slot—but its viewership isn’t anywhere near what The Late Show was doing. Then add in the compensation for the rotating cast of characters like Shannon Sharpe, Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, Molly Qerim, and others. Pretty pricey—averaging around half a million viewers.
Is First Take’s juice worth the squeeze? Maybe this is why Stephen A. Smith is everywhere at all times, to ensure the lemonade still has taste.
ALL Networks Are Playing Catch up for Lost Opportunity
If your program is making more money than you’re spending on it, you’re safe. If not, heed the warning of what happened to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
With changing times come changing dynamics—and rising production costs. Talent is not going to magically become cheaper. Nor will the costs to create and distribute content.
While many believe sports content networks have a shield of Teflon from the struggles of network television, the challenges remain the same.
Sports rights agreements are more expensive than ever. Sports networks need those rights as the industry continues to face hurdles from cord-cutting and the fragmentation of live sports. It’s a proven fact that appointment television lives, breathes and survives on live sports play-by-play. Nothing else comes close, and nothing else may ever again.
However, could we see a day where sports networks battle each other for streamers, influencers, and podcasters to fill programming space at a cheaper rate?
It may already be here—for all we know.
Simply put, sports fans can now find entertainment far beyond just the television. The days of appointment viewing for shows like Around the Horn, Get Up, Pardon the Interruption, First Take, and others are over. With the click of a button, sports fans can access a buffet of content options on any app, website, or social network to get the entertainment value they desire. The old way of doing business and generating audience has shifted dramatically, and networks are pivoting their strategies as only they know how.
The eventual fall of late night television was not in the strategy of content direction, it was in the strategy of networks not adapting to changing viewing habits and where audiences are going.
Let’s hope sports networks don’t follow the same formula, before it’s too late.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
John Mamola is the sports editor and columnist for Barrett Media. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. Honored to be a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Media and honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL). Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.
AUSTIN, Texas — For the last several years, the Texas Longhorns have been the thorn in the Wisconsin volleyball team’s side.
In 2021, the Longhorns swept the Badgers in the Final Four. In 2023, the Horns had a similarly dominant 3-1 win in another Final Four. Last year, it was a regular season sweep in Milwaukee and earlier this year it was a regular season sweep in Madison.
But finally, finally, Wisconsin cracked the code Sunday night.
The No. 3-seed Badgers bid “goodbye to Texas University” on the Longhorns’ home court, knocking off the No. 1 seed 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) to advance to the 2025 Final Four.
Perhaps all the Badgers needed was the consistency of their ‘Big 4,’ who have been exceeding expectations all season long.
Mimi Colyer ended the match with 23 kills on 55 attacks with just 6 errors. Una Vajagic had 15 kills and Carter Booth had 11. Their ultimate set-up woman, Charlie Fuerbringer, had 57 assists to go along with 9 digs.
The Badgers now turn their focus to No. 1-seed Kentucky, who had a dominant sweep of No. 3-seed Creighton in their quarterfinal match. That match will be played in Kansas City.
Interestingly enough, Wisconsin ends the weekend as the only Big Ten team left in the tournament. No. 1-seed Nebraska suffered a shock upset to No. 3-seed Texas A&M, as the Aggies advanced to their first Final Four in program history. They’ll take on No. 1-seed Pittsburgh.
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AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 3 Wisconsin volleyball team punched their ticket to the NCAA National Semifinals for the seventh time in program history, storming into Gregory Gymnasium to take down No. 1 Texas (25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) in four sets.
The Badgers and the Longhorns hooked up in a back-and-forth battle in the first set, as UW utilized a quick 4-0 burst to take a lead at 10-9. With the help of a kill from outside hitter Mimi Colyer, the Badgers enjoyed a narrow 15-14 advantage heading into the first media timeout.
Wisconsin went on to enjoy a 6-0 run to pull away from Texas in the latter half of the frame, led by the serving of freshman Kristen Simon, who tallied an ace in the process. After the Longhorns provided a response in multiple match points, Colyer put it away with a kill to push the Badgers to a set one victory at 25-22.
Set two was more of the same for UW, as the Badgers were able to create some separation with the help of back-to-back kills turned in by middle blocker Carter Booth—extending their lead to 14-10. They followed it up with a 3-0 run, highlighted by a kill apiece from right side Grace Egan and middle blocker Alicia Andrew.
Texas once again made a late push to apply the pressure on Wisconsin, but the Badgers answered back quickly to wrap up the second set with a win. It was Colyer again, as the star senior converted on another kill to give UW a 2-0 lead.
The Longhorns utilized their physical presence on the offensive end to get back into a rhythm in the third set, illustrated by a 5-0 scoring run in the middle of the frame.
Outside hitter Una Vajagic provided some momentum for the Badgers in set three, tallying five kills to keep Wisconsin within striking distance. Unfortunately for UW, it was not enough, as they fell 20-25.
Texas maintained their momentum right away in the fourth frame, jumping out to a 4-0 lead to force a Wisconsin timeout.
The Badgers proved to be resilient, winning six of seven rallies to take a 7-6 lead—concluding that stretch with an ace from Colyer. Outside hitter Trinity Shadd-Ceres made her presence felt moments later, recording a pair of kills to extend the advantage to 13-8.
Wisconsin managed to outlast Texas in lengthy rallies down the stretch, continuing to keep the Longhorns off balance on the offensive end. Vajagic and Colyer ended it with kills, securing the victory for the Badgers and etching their spot in the National Semifinals in Kansas City next week.
Colyer paced UW with 23 kills, finishing with a .309 hitting percentage. In similar fashion, Vajagic followed suit swinging at .458 (15 – 4 – 24), marking double-digit kill totals for the sixth consecutive match.
Booth was steady from the front row in a tough road atmosphere, converting on 11 kills. In the middle of it all, setter Charlie Fuerbringer dished out 57 assists and notched nine digs.
Straight from the Court
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield (on tonight’s match): “One of the hardest things to do in sports is what you have to do in volleyball. It’s awesome that we have home environments in this round, but to go on the road and grab a win from a Goliath…the talent they got over there, we knew our players were going to have to stand tall and embrace everything.”
(On how special this team is): “I’m excited to still be playing with these guys. I love this team, I love how far this team has gone. They have grown so incredibly much since the beginning of this season. I know nobody wants this thing to end.”
(on advancing to the National Semifinals): “The Final Four is just so special, it is so incredible. When you’ve been there, every fiber of your being, you want as many of your players that are committed that decide to come here, you want them to experience that. I’m so excited that they are going to be able to experience that.”
Outside Hitter Mimi Colyer (on the emotions of making it to the Final Four): “It’s been so much fun to play for this group of girls, and I think we were so energetic and we were just so courageous out there. We played such good, gritty volleyball and I’m so excited to keep playing.”
Middle Blocker Carter Booth (on embracing the crowd): “I think we walked in knowing exactly who we are and what we have practiced and what we have worked on and the talent that we have. We came in with the intention of showing people exactly who we are and who we know ourselves to be.”
Setter Charlie Fuerbringer (on Una Vajagic’s performance): “She really just led us to this point, and was clutch in huge moments. Going back to the underdog thing, there are no underdogs in this thing, everyone is giving their best volleyball.”
Notes:
With the win, Wisconsin volleyball advances to the National Semifinal for the seventh time in program history and the sixth under head coach Kelly Sheffield.
Wisconsin improves to 5-6 all-time against the Longhorns. The last win previously in Austin was back in September 18, 2016.
The Badgers improve to 74-29 all-time in the NCAA tournament.
For the second-straight match, Wisconsin wore its black jersey. The Badgers are 3-0 this season when wearing black.
The Badgers had three player with double-figure kills, led by Mimi Colyer (23), Una Vajagic (15) and Carter Booth (11).
Libero Kristen Simon had a match-high 15 digs.
Setter Charlie Fuerbringer had a match-high 57 assists. She chipped in with nine digs and three blocks.
For the 13th match this season, Colyer tallied 20 or more kills. She had a match-high 23 kills on 55 swings while hitting .309. Colyer has now recorded double-figure kills in every match but one and is currently on a 19-match streak with double-digit kills.
Up Next: The Badgers will hit the road to Kansas City to take on No. 1 Kentucky in the NCAA National Semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 18. UW last faced the Wildcats during the 2022 season, and have taken three-straight matches over Kentucky.
Wisconsin went into Texas and punched its ticket to the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball Final Four on Sunday night.
The Badgers avenged an earlier loss to the Longhorns, who swept them on Aug. 31, to advance to the Final Four for the third time since 2020. Wisconsin (24-4) is a No. 3 seed and the lowest ranked team to make to the semifinals at No. 10 in the country.
Mimi Colyer led the Badgers with 23 kills and five digs. Una Vajagic added 15 kills and Carter Booth 11. The Badgers will play Kentucky (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) in the national semifinals on Thursday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.
“I just love this team; we fought so hard for each other,” Colyer said. “It’s so much fun to come into an environment like this and pull it off.”
USA TODAY Sports had live coverage of the match. Here’s everything you need to know to know about the action.
SCORE: Wisconsin 3, Texas 1
Set 4 final: Wisconsin 25, Texas 19
The Badgers advance to the Final Four for the third time since 2020. Wisconsin (24-4) is a No. 3 seed and the lowest ranked team to make to the semifinals at No. 10 in the country.
Texas, a one seed, was ranked No. 3 in the nation and sees its season end.
Set 4: Wisconsin first to 15
Can the Badgers close this out and punch their ticket to the Final Four? They have been to Final Four six times and won their lone national title in 2021.
Wisconsin is hitting .318 in the fourth set.
Set 3 final: Texas 25, Wisconsin 19
Cari Spears now leads Texas with nine kills. The Longhorns are using a balanced attack and hit .400 in the third set to get back in the match.
Set 3: Texas first to 15
Torrey Stafford and Cari Spears have eight kills each as the Longhorns are fighting back. Texas is hitting .429 in the third set.
Set 2 final: Wisconsin 25, Texas 21
The Badgers hitting percentage is .315 compared to .246 by the Longhorns. Mimi Colyer got her 10th kill to seal the set. Charlie Fuerbringer has 32 assists in leading the Wisconsin offense.
Set 2: Wisconsin first 15
Wisconsin is enjoying a balanced offensive attack. Mimi Colyer has nine kills, Carter Booth seven and Grace Egan and Una Vajagic six apiece.
Set 1 final: Wisconsin 25, Texas 22
The Badgers went on a 7-0 run before the Longhorns fought back with a 5-0 run on their own. It wasn’t enough as Wisconsin prevailed led by six kills from Mimi Colyer.
Matthew McConaughey cheering for the Longhorn women
We are underway in Austin
The Badgers and Longhorns are set to faceoff for a Final Four bid.
What time is Wisconsin vs. Texas volleyball?
The Texas Longhorns play host to the Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball Elite Eight on Sunday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. CT) at the Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas.
Florida setter Alexis Stucky announced her commitment to Penn State women’s volleyball out of the transfer portal Sunday night. Stucky posted on Instagram her intentions to transfer to Happy Valley.
As a redshirt junior this past season, Stucky totaled 1,062 assists and 10.31 assists per set, which was top 30 in the nation. She was selected to the All-SEC Second Team.
Stucky will join Penn State outside hitter Kennedy Martin, who spent two years with Stucky at Florida. In her first year as a Nittany Lion, Martin was second in the NCAA with 5.42 kills per set.
Following the departure of star setter Izzy Starck, the Nittany Lions finished the 2025 season with a 19-13 record and went 12-8 in the Big Ten.
Incoming freshman setter Danielle Whitmire, a top-five recruit in the 2026 recruiting class, will also join the Nittany Lions.
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Michael Siroty is a junior from Westfield, New Jersey, majoring in broadcast journalism. When he isn’t writing articles or making TikToks for Onward State, Siroty is probably somewhere talking about college sports. You can contact him to discuss your sushi order or music taste on Instagram and X @msiroty or by email at [email protected].
As the fall semester comes to a close, I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. We had a very busy and productive fall, beginning with Evie Bliss making it to the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where on September 19 she threw the Javelin 58.88 (193-1.25) to finish 10th in her preliminary flight and 19th overall among a field of 36 of the best javelin throwers in the world. Evie was the youngest competitor in the field and the first-ever Bucknell Track and Field athlete to compete in a World Championship. What a fantastic year for Evie. It was great that we were able to send Coach Ryan Protzman to Tokyo to coach her in the meet, thanks to the Spiked Shoe Club and its fundraising efforts.
The cross country season came to a close a couple of weeks ago, and our women’s team capped it off by finishing second (48 pts) at the Patriot League Championships – the program’s best finish since 2019. The only team to best the Bison that day was a very good Army (21 pts) squad led by head coach and Bucknell grad Michael Smith ’88. We had four ladies earn All-Patriot League status, led by sophomore Shealan McNally, who was the runner-up in the race. Junior Kailey Granger (6th), sophomore Katie Moncavage (10th), and senior Caryn Rippey (13th) were the other three to earn all-league honors. We were well ahead of Navy (3rd, 99 points), Boston U (4th, 120 points), and Lehigh (5th, 136 points) – the other schools among the top-five in the 10-school field. Two weeks later, we competed at Lehigh in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships and finished 7th out of 30 schools. I was very pleased with that finish, which was our highest place since we were 6th in 2016.
Our men’s team had some health issues late in the season, but nevertheless improved one spot from the 6th-place showing in 2024 with a 5th-place finish (135 points) this season. Our goal was to finish in the top three, and we were only 19 points behind 3rd-place American University (116 points) and 4th-place Boston University (117 points). Navy won the meet with 28 points, followed by Army at 58 points. Senior Henry Didden led us with a 10th-place finish, followed by sophomore Ethan Pratt-Perez, who was 14th – both runners earned All-Patriot League honors. It was the second consecutive year that Ethan made the all-league team. Two weeks later, the Bison finished 12th of 29 teams with 334 points at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional. Our goal was to be in the top 10, and we were only 29 points away from 10th place (U-Penn, 305 points). Pratt-Perez was our top finisher (39th, 30:52 for 10K), followed closely by Didden ( 43rd, 30:56).
We began our indoor track and field season on December 5-6 with our Annual Bison Opener, and I felt it was one of the best openers we have ever had, setting us up for what I hope is a very successful indoor season. We had 11 schools on campus for the meet, including Penn State. The men had five individual victories, and a total of eight men made our all-time top-10 list. The women had four individual winners and six new additions on the all-time top-10 list, including a school and fieldhouse record in the 300 meters by sophomore Alex Lea.
Men’s Event Winners:
Lucas Williams Pole Vault 16-4.75 #8 all-time
CJ Simbiri Triple Jump 48-10.75 #5 all-time
Nick Bouril 300 meters 34.57 #2 all-time
Cooper Hollinger 3000 meters 8:41.31
Alex Goonewardene Mile 4:28.28
Men’s Additional All-Time Top-10 Entries:
Luke Petryna 60 meters 4th place 6.91 #8 all-time
Preston Lubeski 300 meters 3rd place 35.40 #8 all-time
Ethan Knight 60 M Hurdles 3rd place 8.30 #7 all-time
Eamon Golden 60 M Hurdles 4th place 8.37 #10 all-time
Henry Didden 5000 meters (at Boston University) 14:05.94 #2 all-time
Women’s Event Winners:
Anna Carruthers 800 meters 2:16.34
Alex Lea 300 meters 39.29 school and fieldhouse record
Here is our Indoor Track and Field Schedule. We would love to see you at any of our meets, at home or on the road, if we are in your area.
Sat., Jan. 17 Penn State Challenge State College, Pa.
Sat., Jan. 24 Gulden Invitational Home
Fri-Sat, Jan. 30-31 Bucknell Invitational & Multi Home
Fri-Sat, Jan. 30-31 Penn State National Open State College, Pa.
Fri-Sat, Feb. 6-7 UPenn Invitational Philadelphia, Pa
Fri., Feb. 20 Bucknell Tune-up Home
Sat-Sun, Feb. 28-Mar. 1 Patriot League Championships Boston University
Last year, we had some really great support for our program through donations made to the Spiked Shoe Club, and we need to have an even better year in 2025-26 if we want to accomplish some of our goals. The Patriot League Outdoor Championships were pushed back to mid-May this spring, resulting in a longer outdoor season in general. I’d like to travel a little more than in past years, including bringing more athletes to the Penn Relays than usual, along with trips to William & Mary and the IC4A-ECAC Meet at Rutgers.
In addition, we expect to have quite a few athletes making postseason meets such as the NCAA East Prelims in Kentucky, and potentially the USATF Nationals and U20 Nationals. Your gifts to the program will go a long way, and we hope to once again break program fundraising records for the number of donors and the amount raised.
I hope you will mark your calendars now for March 25-26, the 2026 One Herd One Day giving challenge. Our program has consistently been one of the top in the department on this important day, and your continued support will help determine the type of student-athlete experience we are able to provide to all the young men and women in our program.
I cannot wait for 2026. Have a great Holiday Season.
Kevin Donner
Head Cross Country/Track & Field Coach
Bucknell University
kdonner@bucknell.edu
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Bison Club support is the driving force behind Bucknell Athletics. Your donations directly impact the holistic development of student-athletes from 27 Division I varsity programs who are building a foundation at Bucknell to become leaders and difference-makers around the globe. Make your gift online, or call 570-577-1771 to support your favorite Bison team today.
