Former ESPN host Michelle Beadle is creating a podcast network with The Athletic as part of a ... [+]
We last saw Michelle Beadle on-air hosting NBA Countdown and Get Up! on ESPN back in 2019. After a contract buyout, Beadle went on a hiatus extended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she is back with a multiyear podcast deal with sports media company The Athletic to create her own podcast network. The flagship show in the new Beadle Podcast Network will be What Did I Miss?, a sports and pop-culture focused variety show mixing comedy and analysis with Michelle’s unique point of view. It premieres on November 15th, with new episodes dropping every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Beadle also joined the San Antonio Spurs’ broadcast team as a special correspondent for the NBA 2021-2022 season, as part of a move back to her native Texas.
We spoke to Beadle about her time away from the airwaves, including her desire to open a British bed and breakfast, how the pandemic hastened her return home, and the freedom —or danger— of being untethered to a major corporation.
What did I miss? premieres on November 15th.
We last saw you on air in 2019 and your new podcast is titled What did I miss? So what did we miss in your life, besides the pandemic, in the past couple of years?
Michelle Beadle: When I left ESPN, my goal was to travel and chill and then sort of get back out there. It turns out I actually very much enjoyed relaxing and living my life and not really kind of being in the rat race for a while. And then all of a sudden an extra two years.
It's been long enough. Now I'm ready to go back to work and kind of get back out there and give my opinion to those who want to hear them and those who don't care. I don't care if you hate me. Just listen. But I've done a lot of family time, a lot of friends, a lot of just nothing that I didn't think was important. I think work was important for so many years that switching those priorities has been a very cleansing moment for me.
Where was your favorite place to travel to?
MB: I kind of did it chip choppy. I went to Switzerland and Como and then I came back. The plan was I was going to the UK. I ended up being there for about five weeks. My ultimate plan is to buy a bed and breakfast and live out everybody's romcom fantasies. But then I was like, 'Oh, I got to get back home.' And I want to say a month or two later is when everything sort of shut down. And you know, I had dogs I had to come home to. I had a responsibility to three creatures. But yeah, the UK was my favorite because I tried to do it as though I was living there. Most times I go on a trip and you're there for two days, a week, whatever. I was trying to pretend like, 'could I live in London? Do I like being here? Do I like traveling through the UK countryside?' And turns out yes, I did very, very, very much. Can't wait to do it again. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
Your podcast, What did I miss? is a mix of sports, pop culture, which is a great blend. What exactly can we expect in terms of the format and content?
MB: My goal for this is to have guests but what I didn't want it to be was a sort of an interview-dependent podcast where we try to outdo ourselves and everyone around us. Because A, you're really setting yourself up to fail. But more importantly, for me, I don't see collecting big name interviews as necessarily being the most entertaining way. I want to talk to people that I enjoy talking to whether I know them or not; preferably I do. So comedians, friends that I have in this business that are experts, but also well-rounded individuals that can talk about anything. I want it to sound like everybody's eaves dropping in on a conversation between people who genuinely like each other.
What I probably miss the most about doing television on a daily basis was, even on the days when you think there are no stories, something always happens. And so I look forward to having those conversations with those people again and I want it to just be casual and silly. SportsNation will always be the best job I ever had because it was so goofy and nobody was afraid. And we just did stuff. And maybe it works. Maybe it didn't. But we enjoyed every part of it. And so I want to get a little bit of that back.
It feels like everybody has a podcast. What do you think will set you apart?
MB: I really feel like people who are familiar with me, I suppose they sort of already know what they're getting. I like to think that my work was one of somebody who tried not to BS and tried to be as authentic as possible. And kind of what you saw was what you got. I think the biggest positive going into this podcast [is] I don't have a short leash like I wanted. When you work for a giant corporation, with a certain set of rules, you know that there were certain things we weren't allowed to talk about, we weren't allowed to say on social media. Everybody's sort of familiar with what goes on in certain places. But I do think I'll have a lot more freedom in that capacity which could be very dangerous. But it also is going to be an amazing thing. I mean, the fact that I'm combining two years off with more freedom is a recipe for something. I guess we'll decide what that is about six months from now when we take a look back. But I'm hoping that it's for success.
Things have changed so much in the sports media space. Another ex-ESPNer Jemele Hill has a Spotify deal. John Skipper and Dan Le Batard formed Meadowlark Media. What's been the biggest change in the sports media landscape over the past few years?
MB: I do think the options for employment. Everyone has a podcast. You can start a network. You can just go off, take your intellectual property with you and carry all your fans with you and start somewhere else. And that is a beautiful thing to watch. I think no business is good when there are limited places for people to prosper. I think the better we all have chances and opportunities, the better the final products are. And so I watched everybody sort of diversify what they're doing. I mean, there was a time when you would work at a place like ESPN and that's all you could do. You have an exclusivity right and that's it. Don't try to go do something else. To watch all of these people who I've worked with and who I know and who I enjoy, kind of go out and just blossom and do what they want to do has been very freeing and very refreshing and it gives me a sense of optimism as far as you don't have to go and do one thing for the rest of your life.
Besides your podcast you've also returned to your beloved San Antonio Spurs. How are you enjoying your return home?
MB: I didn't go in with too many expectations. The first day back, we had a meeting. Most of these guys, unbeknownst to me at the time, they've all been here. I recognized almost everyone in the room when I went into this broadcast meeting. It was like a five hour hangout. And even the guys I didn't recognize, they have all been there for nine,10, 12 years. I just have been gone during that period. So they've all been doing this for so long with each other. It has a family feel to it. I couldn't have felt more welcomed. I'm a sarcastic person. I don't do a lot of that emotion very well and so it was very overwhelming for me, not just from the colleagues standpoint, but from fans in the arena. The first night they were just coming by. They didn't want anything. They just literally were like, 'welcome back.' I was not prepared for such a warm welcome. It was flattering to say the least.
Anything you miss about LA?
MB: The one thing I miss in LA is the variety of food delivery options I had at any given moment to my home. But honestly New York or LA, those were two of the cities to get anything almost at any time. It's hard to compare pretty much any other city to that. It's almost unfair. But yeah, I don't miss the traffic. I miss my brother, who is still out there, and a few friends. But for the most part, I am a little surprised how much I just sort of moved back here and have gotten comfortable right away. I mean my family's here, my boyfriend's here, my best friends live here. I haven't lived in the same city as any of them for over 20 years. So it's kind of cool to go take an exercise class together and grab a glass of wine and just be. That has been refreshing.
I didn't think that something like a pandemic would change my mind in as many ways as it did. But yeah, going home became an easy decision. That's a crazy powerful thing.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What did I miss? premieres on November 15 and is available for free on Apple
