ESPN Hopes Short-Form ‘ESPN Stories’ Will Intrigue Digitally-Savvy Sports Fans

Us Weekly has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services.

As Katie Thurston and John Hersey’s relationship continues to go strong, Blake Moynes is reflecting on his time with the Bachelorette and their sudden split.

Mary Mary is an urban contemporary gospel duo composed of Erica Campbell and Trecina Atkins-Campbell. The women, who are set to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra Los Angeles at Super Bowl LVI, have a lot of interesting and compelling history as well as aspirations for the future of gospel.

Kate Beckinsale put her furry feline bestie to the test.

Morgan Wallen played to a packed crowd at New York City’s Madison Square Garden where the crowd routinely broke into anti-President Joe Biden chants. Videos from the event taken by Fox News Digital show the crowd enjoying the show and engaging in some political mockery while the artist was between songs during his set. One video shows everyone gleefully chanting "Let’s Go Brandon," a not-so-subtle code among President Biden’s critics that stands for "F--- Joe Biden." During Wallen’s opening act at the show for his "The Dangerous Tour" was special guest HARDY, who took a moment during his set to discuss what was going on in the country, prompting the crowd to launch into a "USA" chant as well.

A big, blended family. Megan Fox’s response to Brian Austin Green and Sharna Burgess’ baby news couldn’t have been more supportive. The mother of three is “thrilled” that her ex-husband is expecting another little one with his girlfriend.

As Goodnight Sweetheart's dim-witted Reg, Christopher Ettridge was one of the sitcom's biggest stars. And while he looks very different to the character that made him a comedy favourite, he is still a performer at the age of 74.

THE saying “like mother, like daughter” couldn't be more appropriate for this batch of gorgeous celebrities. Yesterday Paul Hollywood’s ex Summer Monteys-Fullam stunned fans with a throwback shot of her glamorous mum.

THE Apprentice candidates are in for a rude awakening on tonight's installment when their tour guide challenge around the Welsh countryside goes awry. In a teaser for this evening's episode, viewers watch as hopeful Nick Showering painfully attempts to make his team's train tour more exciting than it is.

TAMMY Slaton compared herself to Spongebob characters in her latest TikTok while in rehab. The 1,000-Lb Sisters star - who was recently in a medically-induced coma - has been accused of not taking her health crisis seriously in the past.

TWO EastEnders legends have been reunited on stage for a new crime thriller show with a deadly twist. Adam Woodyatt and his former on-screen wife Laurie Brett - who played Ian and Jane Beale on the BBC soap - will act side-by-side in theatres. Adam, 53, and Laurie, 52, will start together in the stage production Looking Good Dead, playing husband and wife Tom and Kellie Bryce.

KIM Kardashian was shaded by Naomi Campbell after fans claimed the reality star "copied" the supermodel's look in her new Vogue photoshoot. Kim, 41, shared a series of photos from the shoot on social media, with one looking particularly familiar to fans.

TOWIE star Chloe Brockett has revealed she's got a very famous pal after Piers Morgan spotted her talent before she was famous.  The presenting legend and new TalkTV host has famously poked fun at reality stars - calling Love islanders  "brain dead". But he admitted to Chloe '"Essex girls aren't what they seem" after they met at a celebrity hair salon in London as they both got their locks done.  Chloe was three years away from landing a starring role in The Only Way Is Essex, but Piers already knew right away she'd be successful.

STRICTLY Come Dancing's Giovanni Pernice has broken his silence after snogging Emily Atack at the Brits - with a song. The hunky 31-year-old couldn’t resist poking fun at his latest romantic situation, as he shared the Abba classic Mamma Mia, with the lyrics: "Mamma Mia here I go again.

The Snyder Cut fandom is one of the most vocal on social media when it comes to superhero films, leading the charge for years (using both positive and disgustingly negative means) to finally get the preferred cut of “Justice League” released. Now, a lot of those folks are trying to drum up support for the David Ayer Cut of “Suicide Squad.” Though everyone agrees that the original director’s cut of that film is likely better than the shoddy theatrical cut that was released, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that WB has any interest in actually putting money into it, especially considering James Gunn has taken that world and revamped it with his “The Suicide Squad” and “Peacemaker” projects.

What’s an award season without a little controversy? Beyond some online discourse, there hasn’t been much for the 2021-2022 season. That changed on Wednesday with a surprising report the Oscars will not be requiring attendees to be vaccinated.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is one of the best action films of the last decade. But not only is the on-screen action and story incredibly interesting, but over the years, we’ve heard more and more behind-the-scenes tales that make it seem as if the drama behind the camera was almost just as fascinating.

Harry James Thornton really worries what his dad will think of him.

Nintendo has announced the Portal: Companion Collection will be released for the Switch this year.During yesterday’s (February 9) Nintendo Direct, it was announced that Portal and Portal 2 will both be coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2022 in the form of a collection, although no specific date was given.Nintendo also shared the news on Twitter, saying, “No lie, the Portal: Companion Collection – featuring the award-winning games Portal and Portal 2 – is warping onto NintendoSwitch this year!”Portal is a physics-based puzzle-platformer released by Valve in 2007 and uses a portal gun to allow players to link two locations together.

Miles Kane has hinted that The Last Shadow Puppets could return in the future.Kane formed the group with Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner in 2008. They released two albums, 2008’s ‘The Age Of The Understatement’ and 2016’s ‘Everything You’ve Come To Expect.’Speaking to Music Week, Kane said they while had no plans to reunite soon, he hasn’t ruled out another album for the group.He said: “We won’t be doing anything in the near future, but I think it’d be rude not to do a trilogy.“The trilogy would be the icing, wouldn’t it?”Previously, Miles said in 2018 that he would “never say never” when it came to the group returning on day. “The Last Shadow Puppets was good, I had great fun with that.

Riot Games has addressed issues surrounding toxicity within Valorant and its chat systems, outlining what it’s already done and what’s still to come.In a blog shared today, Riot Games has shared its thoughts on abuse and toxicity within Valorant.“While we can never remove the bad conduct itself from individuals, we can work to deter behavior such as insults, threats, harassment, or offensive language through our game systems,” explained the blog, whilst adding that there’s also room to “encourage “pro-social” behaviour”.Outlining what the studio already does to combat toxicity, the blog states that Riot currently uses player feedback to identify when some individuals are deemed particularly toxic, so it can punish them faster. It also touches on the game’s recently-added muted words list, which aims to let players choose which words and phrases they do not want to see or hear in the game.On the topic of punishments, Riot says it has issued 400,000 voice chat and text bans and 40,000 bans in January alone.Looking ahead, Riot shared its plans to expand its efforts to tackle toxicity in voice chat, on which it said the following:When a player experiences toxicity, especially in voice comms, we know how incredibly frustrating it is and how helpless it makes us feel both during the game, as well as post game. Not only does it undermine all the good in Valorant, it can have lasting damage to our players and community overall.

Fashion police! Kanye West’s chunky Balenciaga x Crocs boots may be off the runway, but Snoop Dogg simply can’t get behind the wild fashion statement.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has been announced with confirmation the game will launch in September for Nintendo Switch.During the latest Nintendo Direct, and saving the announcement for last, Nintendo announced the latest game in the Monolith Soft RPG series with a 2-minute story trailer.The trailer debuted the game’s main cast, several open-world environments, and third-person action that is so familiar to the RPG series. It will apparently tie together the futures of the worlds depicted in Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.You can check out the official trailer below:Additionally, following the game’s reveal, Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s executive director Tetsuya Takahashi also shared a message on the new title, detailing further information that will interest fans of the series.“We are currently making final adjustments to ensure we create the best game possible based on everything we’ve learned from the past entries in the series,” Takahashi said.“The key visual features a broken great sword of Mechonis and the body of the Urayan Titan with a gaping wound,” the director continued.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMore people continue to watch TV or other forms of video in the midst of the pandemic, but Madison Avenue is spending fewer dollars to dazzle them.National TV advertising fell 9% in June to $3.2 billion, according to Standard Media Index, a continuation of negative trends that have been in place since the coronavirus pandemic struck in March. But the June figures show losses narrowing: the 9% figures come after a 19% dip in May and a 28% tumble in April.“In June, we saw that some advertising budgets are beginning to return to normal,” said James Fennesy, global CEO of Standard Media Index, a tracker of ad spending.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorBasketball fans can’t sit courtside these days, but they might just get the ultimate view of NBA action when ESPN opens its coverage of the league’s season this evening.Fans who use the ESPN App will be able to access full games with a “rail-cam” view, which lets the streaming audience see the action through a camera lens placed on a mobile table. As the action moves up and down the court, the camera can move with it (a concept not dissimilar from the “Boogermobile,” an elevated chair for former “Monday Night Football” analyst Booger McFarland that ESPN for a time placed on top of a cart that could move with the game up and down the sideline).

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorIf you missed the regular Opening Day from Major League Baseball due to the coronavirus pandemic, well, someone feels your pain.Comcast Corp. intends to refund the programming fees its subscribers paid for regional sports networks in the second quarter, the Philadelphia cable giant said Wednesday.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMichael Collins has been at ESPN for nearly a decade, but he’s still surprised he works there.“I never went to college. I failed high-school English,” recounts the ESPN golf analyst.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorMike Greenberg must move fast as the host of ESPN’s “Get Up” each weekday morning. He’s hoping a new radio gig in the afternoons will give him the chance he needs to slow things down.“On the TV show, we are just flying through stuff.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorWhen it comes to sports broadcasts, NBCUniversal has a singular goal: The company wants to push even those advertisers who might not typically rush to football, hockey or Nascar to get into the game.The Comcast-owned company is about to make the rounds of media buyers and advertisers with a study of the attitudes of sports-deprived consumers in May – in the depths of the nation’s coronavirus shutdown – in the hopes of demonstrating how eager these people are to see new games, and the advertisers that might support them.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe nation’s local news veterans are launching a bid to take on a few successful upstarts making a market in national sports.An alliance of local-media companies, the Local Media Consortium, will launch “The Matchup,“ a new online sports news effort that aims to give fans of specific teams more news about them from a wider range of outlets than just those covering it locally The group’s first effort will make more headlines about a team available to a reader, so that a Dallas Morning News subscriber who follows the Dallas Cowboys might be able to easily find and click on to other stories about the team in, for instance, The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFans won’t be able to watch NBA games court-side thanks to the coronavirus, but the league hopes to fill their absence with everything from the sounds of sneaker squeaks to the sight of fans beaming on the sidelines on big screens thanks to partnerships with Anheuser-Busch InBev and Microsoft.More than 300 fans will be invited to appear live on 17-foot video boards surrounding the court at NBA games taking place in Orlando at Walt Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  Their antics, sponsored by Anheuser’s Michelob and coordinated with technology from Microsoft, will no doubt turn up in some fashion on games televised by the NBA’s two main media partners, ESPN and WarnerMedia’s TNT.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Sports has laid off between 50 and 100 staffers, according to a person familiar with the matter, part of a bid to realign the Fox Corp. unit after it shed its regional-sports networks as part of the company’s massive asset sale to Walt Disney Co.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorThe NBA already has Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. Now it’s ready to work with Issa Rae.The producer and actor isn’t picking up a ball to play against the Nets, the Jazz or the Golden State Warrrior, but she may have to execute a trickier maneuver: luring fans back to a new NBA cycle that is likely to be one of most scrutinized in the league’s history.Rae is the center of a new NBA campaign that aims to remind fans where basketball left off earlier this year and build new appetites for the restart of the season.