The Media Notepad: John Schriffen likely on his way out as White Sox broadcaster
Plus: Tony Romo out at CBS; Paramount and Warner now under the Skydance umbrella
With the Chicago White Sox rebounding from a disastrous 41-121 season in 2024 and winning the Wild Card playoff round against the Houston Astros to advance to the Divisional Round, another “long running national nightmare” could come to an end as well.
According to Front Office Sports, White Sox play-by-play man John Schriffen may be on his way out after three years with the team. His contract is up after three years, and there is currently no discussions on a renewal, especially after Jason Benetti – the man Schriffen replaced – recently received a contract extension with the Detroit Tigers.
CHSN President Mike McCarthy has “put out feelers” for a new play-by-play man, according to FOS. CHSN and Schriffen have declined to comment, while the White Sox said the team is focused on the postseason, as they are playing the Cleveland Guardians for a best-of-five starting Saturday.
Since replacing Benetti in 2024, Schriffen has been polarizing for his commentary, soliciting criticism from fans, media people, and this space, who gave a less-than-flattering review of his work, calling him “a disgrace to baseball”. Schriiffen has also made notable errors on air and relied on stupid catchphrases such as “South Side Stand Up!” Schriffen also notably feuded with WSCR personalities, calling the station “radio losers” during a broadcast.
If Schriffen gets canned, he still has other gigs, including college football, basketball, UFL, and NBA G League on ESPN, and UFC matches for Paramount + (which seems fitting.) As the White Sox have upgraded their team to playoff contenders, they now need to upgrade their announcing team – and by that, I mean keep Steve Stone and get rid of the, um, “disgrace”.
While John Schriffen’s fate up in the air, another sports broadcaster has seen his career end Friday at CBS Sports as Tony Romo was given his walking papers after he was caught driving under the influence earlier this summer in Wisconsin. Both parties agreed to mutually part ways.
“CBS Sports and Tony Romo have mutually agreed to part ways,” the network said in a statement. “We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years and wish him the best moving forward.”
Romo was pulled over for intoxication and was found to have a strong odor of alcohol on him. Romo failed a sobriety test, was put in handcuffs, and was later released. Romo pleaded no contest to the charges on Sept. 1 and lost his driving privileges for six months, among other penalties. After the July 23 arrest, Romo was placed on indefinite leave by CBS.
CBS Sports replaced Romo on the network’s top NFL broadcasting team with J.J. Watt, who’ll be seated next to Jim Nantz for the remainder of the season.
Without any broadcast experience, Romo landed the top commentator job in 2017 aside Nantz, replacing Phil Simms. Romo was praised early on for his work, with his uncanny ability to predict plays before they happened. But in the last few years, criticism of Romo steadily increased, especially his performance during Super Bowl LVIII, where he nearly stepped on Nantz’s call of Patrick Mahomes’ winning touchdown pass for Kansas City.
Romo and CBS agreed to a financial settlement, as he was owed $72 million on a ten-year, $180 million contract – one of the largest ever rewarded to a NFL broadcaster. He had four years remaining on his deal.
With a settlement from twelve states’ attorney generals in hand, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery are moving ahead with their $111 billion merger, and Friday, announced they would be united under the Skydance name, reverting to the original moniker when David Ellison founded the production company in 2006. The merger is expected to close on Tuesday, with Paramount and Warner Bros. retaining their names as brands.
“We chose [the Skydance name] for a few important reasons. First and foremost, as we bring Paramount and Warner Bros. together, we wanted to preserve what has made each of these studios iconic”, Ellison said on X. “Both have distinct identities, extraordinary legacies and brands that have resonated with audiences for generations. We never wanted a new corporate identity to diminish, alter or overshadow either one. Instead, we wanted a name that would give the combined company an identity of its own while allowing Paramount and Warner Bros. — and all our extraordinary brands — to remain in the spotlight.
Skydance released a slickly-produced video on YouTube Friday, mostly featuring movie clips from both studios.
Skydance announced Friday it was keeping its Paramount + and HBO Max brands separate. There were reports that Ellison would shut down HBO Max if the merger went through. There’s also talk of both services being bundled together, which would make sense since both are owned by Skydance.
The first of many executive shakeups were announced, with current CBS Studios head George Cheeks now overseeing Warner Bros. Television and Paramount Television Studios. HBO’s Casey Bloys is expected to run Paramount + in addition to HBO Max, and Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg overseeing both Paramount and Warner Bros. movie studios. Former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will serve alongside Ellison as co-chief executive.
Two executives who will not be sticking around are Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca, who were Warner Bros.’ movie co-chairs and co-chief executive officers, while Cindy Holland has left her role as head of Paramount +.
With the union of Paramount and Warner Bros. now official, now comes the hard part – dealing with $80 billion in debt and likely handing out more than 1,000 pink slips to employees.