The fallout on RedZone decision, several prominent ESPN exits, more NFL TV changes

Some NFL media notes, in part three of our three-part series chronicling the many NFL media changes this offseason:

▪ DirecTV subscribers are losing NFL Sunday Ticket (unless they purchase the package from YouTube TV), but they will continue to be able to watch the NFL RedZone channel, which switches to games when a team is in scoring position.

NFL RedZone will be offered not only on DirecTV, but also on the DirecTV Stream streaming service, and on the U-verse DSL service.

For years, DirecTV had its own version of RedZone, anchored by Andrew Siciliano. That incarnation of RedZone was so popular than the NFL created its own version with Scott Hanson hosting, beginning in 2009.

Now that DirecTV no longer carries Sunday Ticket in homes, the Siciliano version of RedZone has been discontinued.

The Hanson-hosted RedZone will now be the only one available.

DirecTV satellite and streaming customers can get NFL Network and NFL RedZone by subscribing to the “premier” package. The plan costs $155 a month plus tax for the first two years on DirecTV satellite, or $155 a month plus tax on DirecTV streaming.

Fans who want Sunday Ticket but don’t want to subscribe to YouTube as their primary provider can still purchase the package through YouTube TV Channels.

▪ Chris Mortensen, one of the ESPN’s first ‘information men’ and as classy as they come, announced his retirement on Twitter this week.

“Excited about another season but it’s time to reveal after my 33rd NFL draft in April, I made a decision to step away from ESPN and focus on my health, family and faith,” he tweeted. “The gratitude and humility is overwhelming. It’s not a classic retirement. I’ll still be here talking ball. It’s just time. God Bless you all.”

Meanwhile, another ESPN NFL reporter — Dianna Russini — left to join the Athletic.

▪ Among the 20 or so ESPN layoffs this summer, the dismissal of Todd McShay was the most disappointing from an NFL perspective. He had been a fixture on ESPN’s draft coverage since 2006.

The news was surprising because there seemed to be tangible value to the content that McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. — as a pair — jointly provided.

Their spirited debates — often taking different sides on a player — not only filled segments on ESPN’s February through April NFL studio programming but also spiced draft write-ups on the network’s website.

Their joint mock drafts, in which they alternated picks, provided additional content that drew eyeballs.

Their discussions about players — and where they should be drafted — became so contentious at times that some viewers concluded they didn’t like each other. In truth, they’re very close.

“The thing about Kiper and I, the real story is we get hostile with each other once in a while,” McShay said on Marty Smith’s podcast in 2021.

“But it’s like with your buddy who you are having a legitimate fight with and two seconds later, you are over with. He has been probably the top two or three people at ESPN in terms of supporting my career throughout and nobody knows that. The bottom line is for as much bickering as we do back-and-forth, he has always had my corner from Day 1.

“He’s Mel Kiper. He’s the institution. He’s never had to worry about some young punk stealing his job, and he’s acted with that confidence the entire time. He has always been in my corner, and I will never forget what he’s done for me.”

At 46, McShay seemed poised to one day succeed Kiper, 62, when Kiper decided there were more things to do in life.

Instead, Kiper’s successor could end up being Matt Miller or Jordan Reid, two draft analysts who joined ESPN in recent years.

McShay was always prepared and always opinionated — two requirements for a draftnik. He worried viewers when he went on a hiatus for several months in 2021 “to focus on my health and my family.”

Like lead NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy and several other of the ESPN layoffs, McShay will be missed. Perhaps he will find work at Barstool, NFL Network or elsewhere.

Per SportsBusiness Journal and The New York Post, most of the ESPN announcers dismissed this summer had time left on their contracts, but ESPN can write off their salaries, and none will appear on air again.

Among NFL voices, that group also included Suzy Kolber (who did little beyond Monday night pregame shows in recent years), Keyshawn Johnson (who said Tua Tagovailoa couldn’t reduce his concussions, no matter how hard he tried, in one of his final ESPN appearances), Rob Ninkovich (not as opinionated as other ESPN commentators, and it ended up costing him) and Matt Hasselbeck (brother Tim Hasselbeck — who makes many more annual appearances — survived the initial ESPN cuts).

Johnson, reportedly being paid a large buyout by ESPN, joined Skip Bayless’ show on FS-1.

This summer’s layoffs won’t be the only ESPN departures. Other undisclosed ESPN voices won’t have their contracts renewed.

▪ With Greg Gumbel leaving NFL play by play, CBS moved Andrew Catalon, Spero Dedes and Philadelphia Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy up one notch each, to 4-5-6 on the depth chart.

Catalon will be paired with Tiki Barber and former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan on the No. 4 team; Dedes will work with Adam Archuleta (who had been Gumbel’s partner) on the No. 5 team and McCarthy will work in a three-man booth with James Lofton (Catalon’s former partner) and Jay Feely (Dedes’ former partner).

Chris Lewis, Jason McCourty and Ross Tucker will call a limited schedule as the No. 7 team.

CBS’ top three teams remain intact: Jim Nantz-Tony Romo, Ian Eagle-Charles Davis and Kevin Harlan-Trent Green.

▪ The Christmas games this year are Raiders-Chiefs (on CBS), Giants-Eagles (on Fox) and Baltimore-San Francisco (on ABC, opposite Heat-76ers on ESPN). Christmas falls on a Monday this year.

The NFL said last week that it would not schedule games on Christmas when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thanksgiving games this year: Packers-Lions (on Fox), Washington-Dallas (on CBS) and Seattle-San Francisco (on NBC).

▪ There will be a Saturday tripleheader on NFL Network on Dec. 16, with three games to be chosen among Atlanta-Carolina, Minnesota-Cincinnati, Chicago-Cleveland, Denver-Detroit and Pittsburgh-Indianapolis.

On Saturday, Dec. 23, NBC will carry Cincinnati-Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m. before a Bills-Chargers game on Peacock that night.

No Week 18 games were assigned a day (including Bills at Dolphins) because two of the 16 games will be moved to Saturday, Jan. 6 on ESPN.

And as we explained here, ABC and ESPN will carry Detroit-Dallas on Saturday night, Dec. 30 instead of airing a Monday night game on Jan. 1. That move allows the two College Football Playoff games to be played in the late afternoon and evening of Jan. 1 on ESPN.

Here’s part 1 of our series (on Sunday Ticket, Amazon changes and more), and here’s part 2, on the NFL’s increasing embracing of streaming, how the Dolphins were short-changed in some regards, and more.