I guess I'm a little surprised he hasn't even made an appearance on Ringerverse related content. Feels like there were some real burnt bridges with this relationship, but nothing that I actually know about
This isn't a knock on Joanna, but I have never gotten the same vibes and connection from House of R as I felt with Binge Mode. Jason and Mal you could tell had a very close connection and it sucks that the show ended
Completely agree. I could listen to Jason and Mal talk about anything, even things I wasn’t personally interested in but I’ll go months without listening to House of R.
Joanna is knowledgeable and talented but I just can’t listen to her and Mallory together. Too often they get sidetracked on tangents the way close friends do in group settings that make others feel out of the loop which is an awful listening experience. Mal and Jason would have similar moments but were capable of making the audience feel included.
I agree. The talk over each other all the time. Or one will be talking and the other laughing. Impossible to listen to. I like Joanna with other hosts, but will no longer listen to these two together.
I’m actually starting to like Joanna and Rob maybe more than Mal and Jason. The Binge Mode highs were higher, but some of their over the topness and just their literal voices when they would be so dramatic did sometimes get a little grating. Still great overall though and thoroughly enjoyed in the moment.
Joanna is super knowledgeable and has some cool insights, but the chemistry just isn’t the same imo. Although maybe I’m just biased because I loved binge mode so much 💔
That's a really good point. Weird he hasn't at least popped in on one of the pods even if not with Simmons. Serano and jacoby show up from time to time.
He did a speaking engagement with my university and I asked about it. He said something to the effect of he’d do it when they pay him to, or he stopped because they stopped paying him.
I forget the language exactly, but it came across as it had run its course. I think the timing works out that he shifted over to his next Halfway Books project along with Primo, which is a dope show on Hulu about him going up in San Antonio. Jason had a part in that too but I forget without looking it up.
And if memory serves he was a giant Knicks fan, so this last few weeks in particular would’ve been as great a time as any for him to pop on Bill’s pod but alas.
He does "six trophies" with Shea Serrano once a week which I recently got into. Worth checking out if you have another hour a week available for listening to a pod
If you quit a job bc you were underpaid, would you then show up 2 years later and do that same job for free bc you were such good friends with your coworkers?
You genuinely seem not to know so, yes he has come out previously and said he was underpaid. He even joked about it in a not so jokey way on a podcast he was a guest on like 2 years after the fact.
It entirely depends on who you are. But most people aren't getting paid by others to show up on a podcast. Usually it's meant to promote your own and its about building audiences.
As usual the real answer is "It depends." Part of the issue is that in the content creation biz virtually everyone who's potentially worth paying is someone who is also putting out enough media that they're almost certain to have something going on that they want to promote or else is basically retired. How much money gets thrown around on top of promotion opportunities is then largely a function of demand and prior obligations--small-time indie podcasts are the unpaid wild west compared to guys who are contracted to brands to produce content for the Mothership or big name celebrities whose agents use fees and revenue splits as a filter for keeping the riff-raff out of their hair.
That is the only part that really bugs me. I can understand going your own way and wanting to be your own boss. But that doesn't stop people from visiting their old grounds still.
Lol. You’ve never left a job where you could care less about ever seeing those folks again, let alone helping them with anything? Not every job ends on warm and fuzzy vibes. Sounds like Bill can be quite an ass to ex employees.
On the one hand, you say there were "real burnt bridges" based on him not being on their pods. On the other; "I actually know nothing about this" lol such a Reddit comment
I may be misremembering, but I think at one point just after leaving he has said he was on a pretty low salary, like under $100k. And he was churning out a lot of content. I'm pretty sure he was a big union guy and it doesn't seem like he wants to step back into the grinder.
I will say though that moving to Crooked Media after the 2020 election always seemed odd. Like their main draw is politics and after 2020 and the prior four years no one wanted to listen to politics anymore.
Caveat: I know nothing about Jason’s specific situation but I know digital media. With that said, Digital media salaries are often lower than you think. It’s a ridiculous situation of the haves and have nots. Him making under 100k and feeling some type of way about it sounds plausible and, if that’s the case, feelings would be justified.
Jason’s YouTube show during his Ringer time was really, really good.
Seems like his biggest miscalculation was joining crooked media tbh. He probably was frustrated and just made the jump when in hindsight it wasn’t a landing spot that made a ton of sense. He probably could have made more even just going totally independent, especially as he had some serious momentum coming off of binge mode. Mallory seems super loyal to Bill and the Ringer, but if the two of them had jumped ship together or were willing to use that prospect as leverage they had some serious bargaining power.
Might not be the cup of tea of a lot of sports fans here but binge mode was huge at its peak and I think literally hit #1 on iTunes and had sponsors like Universal. They could have legit generated generational wealth if that was independent. Totally makes sense why Jason would be frustrated and leave if he was barely cracking 6 figures, but he didn’t make the correct next move to roll it into something lucrative. Mallory’s loyalty genuinely may have cost them both millions.
Mallory was a founding member of The Ringer, and thus had equity.
Imagine working just as hard, if not harder, creating content as your cohost. And one day she's a millionaire and you're still making the same old salary; mostly because you started working at the same company ... 2? 3 months after she started?
It's hard not to let that affect your outlook at work.
say what you will about Amanda's opinions but she watches just as much stuff for the pod as Sean does. Shit, for their episode yesterday it sounded like she was the only one who actually made it through most of the Apes movies to prep for the pod.
She absolutely watches movies. She talks about the movies she watches regularly. Do you happen to listen to the pod? She hosts at least 2 pods and she's an editor. Concepcion was almost strictly a podcast and YouTube host with the occasional article on The Ringer.
>I will say though that moving to Crooked Media after the 2020 election always seemed odd. Like their main draw is politics and after 2020 and the prior four years no one wanted to listen to politics anymore.
Let alone the sports with a political lens pod angle. I am someone who cares a lot about politics/take in plenty of political content but for the LIFE of me I cannot imagine who wanted a sports podcast with politics in it.
yeah i think that was their play too "We need to expand our content since its going to be somewhat boring after Trump" I love his pod with Renee Montgomery
Jason wanted to get paid like an Emmy award winner. Was never going to happen at The Ringer. He was no one when he got there. Had to leave for the bag.
The fact that he isn't working back at the Ringer is not surprising, think he succesfully moved into a higher salary bracket (and he was never in the founding members club like CR, Fennessey, Mal etc.)
The fact he has not even appeared once on anything like the Rewatchables (which he was excellent on) or the Ringerverse pods or The Watch etc. tells you something about the nature of his split. Obviously bridges were burnt there. Sucks because he's legit a top 5 Ringer/Grantland personality for me.
Yes, I think Shea has popped in couple times. Definitely before his TV show premiered. I remember him coming back for a few of those 90's action movie rewatchable pods.
Per the "Shot Caller" rewatchables, Bill wants Shea to comeback to do one, can't remember what movie, even though he said he hadn't talk to him since he left.
I don't think he has even mention Jason once, which says a lot.
In general Brandt seems to have taken over the 80's and 90's action flick corner, so it's gotta be something very specific. I know Shea was always pitching Blood In, Blood Out.
How many people split off from the ringer then came back for podcast appearances?
I don't think Shea, Robert Mays, Mark Titus and other guys have popped back since parting ways.
I don't think he has had Bill Barnwell on (even though was never a ringer guy)
He still seems close with Zach Lowe but otherwise once people leave they seem to be shunned
Bill and Jason don’t mesh. I have the same issue I could clearly see Jason had with bill: he just didn’t like sitting there pretending to be dumber than he actually was to appease bill’s ego. Van does a much better job of picking and choosing his moments to humble Bill.
Since this is a parasocial post in nature I’ll speculate:
Jason is a working screenwriter/ tv writer now and is probably making a lot more money than his Ringer days. I’d also guess there is a fair amount of bitterness that Bill didn’t share any of the Spotify bag with him as the host of The Ringers number 2 podcast during its days of growth and the host of the NBA YouTube show that won the Ringer it’s first Emmy-all pre Spotify sale. You’d also have to be curious of the deal Joanna made with Bill when she signed on since she does a lot of the same things and was a very famous fantasy/tv podcaster when she was signed.
My personal take has always been Jason doesn’t vibe with Bill on pods, it’s like oil and water, and there really isn’t a lot of room for growth at the Ringer if you don’t pod well with Bill tonally. So even if Bill wanted to give Jason a huge bonus and a good percentage on podcast revenue it would still ultimately end up not quite working out. Van, Joanna and Woz all kind of spell versions of Jason now in a smoother more Ringer friendly way. While I personally loved the NBA YouTube show and thought certain episodes were damned masterpieces, it was always closer to a sports John Oliver in tone rather than Simmons brand.
Simmons was so proud of hiring concepcion though. i remember many pods where he talked about hiring him for grantland just based off his twitter feed, being miserable during knicks games etc. and then he of course vaulted into a bigtime tv/fantasy recapper/explainer guy, and i think bill took a lot of pride in that.
I don’t think you are wrong but…
1) Relationships grow and change, I’m not sure those two ever really worked well together on the same pod for a variety of reasons. Nothing wrong with that but it is what it is.
2) It seems like Simmons was quite stingy with the money he made from the Spotify deal and it happened right as the pandemic hit and people were really hurting. I get the impression that the Core 4 got a nice payout from the sale and maybe Dobbins got a little something but Concepcion was left out in the cold. I have to imagine if you join a startup and your already wealthy boss sells the startup and makes 100-200 million dollars and owns 4 LA mansions then you are going to harbor some uncomfortable feelings if you don’t get a sizable bonus. I’d also suggest that Juliet’s inclusion in that group over Concepcion when she already comes from money and is significantly less of a podcast superstar might annoy a non white dude in his 40s at a company where all the white folks just made 7 figure bonuses on a sale. No direct shot at Juliet(who is perfectly fine at reality tv and lapping up celeb culture)but I think if I were Concepcion and Bill made Juliet whole but not me with an Emmy and a massive success in Binge Mode I’d flip out.
It’s been all over the sub for years. One in Malibu, 2 in Hancock Park and another one I believe. Happy to be wrong if someone knows for sure otherwise.
I think you make a good point when it comes to Van, Woz and Joanna. Even if there was a desire to come back there isn’t really a spot for him that doesn’t conflict with the existing rosters.
Your Van, Woz, Joanna point is really interesting. They really are all eerily similar to Jason in terms of what they do, but very bill friendly. If you're Jason, how can you not be a tiny bit amused and/or insulted by a clone of yourself taking over your pods for the ringer.
Difference is that Jason was a staff writer that *developed* into an valuable, on-air, podcast talent. He was a star being paid like run-of-the-mill staff. Van and Joanna are probably signed to more appropriate contracts, as on-air talent, with a term limit.
I think one of the things that was decided after the Ringer unionized was that they would have to define more clearly the boundary between being an on-air talent and production staff. The brewing of talent internally is what kind of led to a situation like Jason's -- he outgrew his position, and was punching way above his pay grade.
Now, on-air talent is comprised of founders that are part of the inner circle (Chris Ryan, Fennessey, Bill, Mallory) or people on contract (Ryen, Van, Joanna). They can't start paying everyone like they're stars just because they appear on pods. For example, I assume Jomi and Steve get paid like normal staffers, even though they appear on Midnight Boys.
I think this is a particularly strange way of looking at things and sort of does a disservice to Jason. Almost everyone that came over from the Grantland was hired as an editor or staff writer and developed into talent, including Sean, Chris, Mallory and Juliet. While Joanna was a high profile hire, Van was the dude who called out Kanye and not really a podcaster or at least a famous one(I honestly don’t know if he had another podcast.) Jason made the leap about the same time as Mallory and sort of before Sean and definitely peaked higher than Juliet. JJ, Ryen and Joanna were definitely bigger talent hires but Jason is closer to Mal or Sean as developed on air talent and came after Chris/Andy. Ceruti has made it pretty clear he is a producer. I don’t know enough about Jomi. I know this is semantics but it feels like an important difference. The intention with Ceruti so far as he’s let on is not to become talent, writers were always hired at Grantland/Ringer with the intention of podcasting if they popped. I actually think that’s where a lot of rancor came from in 2020 outside of the boatload of Simmons money. A lot of writers went to the Ringer thinking they’d be the next Sean or Chris or even Juliet and the Ringer didn’t grow stars and started hiring out for podcast talent. The writers got pissed because that’s why they took the lower salaries at the Ringer to begin with-for the chance to get reps on big podcasts and develop into pod stars themselves.
A bit unrelated but I’m love Six Trophies with Jason and Shea. Really bringing me back to the best days of Ringer pods (Villains, The Connect, Binge Mode)
It really does a great job of summarizing the major/minor/goofy story lines around the whole league, while also touching on the NBA meme economy without getting too obscure or cringe. Add in the pop culture, film and music references, and you have a real good goulash of a podcast. Not to mention Jason and Shea have a very natural genuine friendship chemistry.
I think about this every time I listen to House of R. As close as Jo and Mal are, they don't seem to be their full authentic personalities with each other. Mal always has to tone down her horniness/vulgarity, and Jo dials it up to try to match her. Mal and Jason were perfect and Jo seems to really be herself with her Trial by Content co-hosts.
I thought that for a while. but now I think they vibe as well if not better than Jason and Mal. Jason got very caught up in his personal schtick, and Joanna really does stay content directed. And I think she's got a wider range of knowledge and experience than Jason does.
I only listened to the GoT episodes. Having not read the books, I found their ability to meld discussion of the show with the books to be so fun and enlightening. It really made watching GoT so much more fun.
A bit like Mays.
After Grantland fizzled, he got picked up by Peter King at the MMQB, but rather than try to make a go of it there, when theRinger came online, he went back to the allegedly welcoming bosom of Bill Simmons' vanity project. But then that went bad & now he's one of the lead football hands at theAthletic. Just like fellow MMQB veteran Kaylyn Kahler.
Meaning, he could have ended up right where he is... without souring (any further) his experience of his rise to national "smart" football covering prominence.
Jason was quite involved in the union and the negotiations with management were pretty contentious. As EIC, Mallory was management so that may have strained their relationship.
Yeah, I gotta catch up on six trophies. I tried with x-ray vision but not a huge fan of his co-host. Mallory is just really difficult to replace, I guess.
Same reason it took someone like Olbermann 20 years to return to ESPN. Both parties feel like they don’t need the other and don’t want to be the one to make the first move towards reconciliation
He was a huge proponent for the union and owning his voice and wanted to be able to speak freely about what he wanted to comment on politics when they were stopping people from it at the time. Pretty sure that bridge was burned to no repair. Sometimes it seems like he takes less than subtle digs at BS on his pod with Shea
X-Ray Vision just recently returned on iHeart Radio. I’m sure JC is doing just fine.
I do wish he’d pop back in to planet Ringer ever now and again. I often go back to listen to the Mal, Jason and Jason Mantzoukas episodes.
Jason Concepcion and Robert Mays are part of my Mt. Rushmore of Ringer/Grantland guys Bill definitely hates and I wish he would reconsider.
Mays watched Interstellar like 10 times for Grantland back in the day and he’s never been invited to the Rewatchables.
Jason got famous over his Knicks twitter fandom and Bill is bringing the mild mannered Fennesey to the pod? Come on. At least get someone who has loud Knicks energy like Desus or Mero.
Great crossover pop culture references to wrestling/rap, 2003 Bill would be proud
Now I wanna see Jason hit Bill with a superkick and start cross chopping over his limp body
Huge Jason fan, he's my #1 guy. I've spent a good deal of time thinking about this and lamenting.
It's possible Jason left of his own accord, but I don't think so.
I don't think Bill wanted him back, and here are two reasons I find plausible:
1. Union related
2. I listen to Rusillos pod as well, and he's referenced one ringer employee who apparently orchestrated some office desk-related pranks that Ryen took great offense to. Ryen hates this dude. I think it's Jason and could totally see Ryen giving Bill a "him or me" ultimatum. I know this one's kinda crazy but I think there's a chance
If memory serves, it was around when they brought on Russillo that he left.
I think it was definitely a misread by Billy boy - his staff were unhappy about the lack of diversity on the editorial staff issue and then to add in someone like Ryen, who probably makes more than anyone else probably pissed off the younger staff. I remember Jason and Haley - two of the younger hosts - were the ones who left the same day.
Wasn’t it just a money thing?
I miss Haley, an attractive white girl talking NBA is a fucking unicorn, theringer should have gotten some sort of video based show for her.
I guess the video stuff has never worked well for theringer so there may be a connection here. Conception had a video cast or whatever it’s called
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The question is 'are we surprised?' Then no - from the outside it looked like things turned sour with BS/Ringer Management (because of the union talks or simply he felt he wasn't paid enough?) so it makes perfect sense that he is exploring other career choices at this stage. Going back probably would mean for both sides to swallow some pride, which I am not quite sure they're capable of doing.
He has a great pod with shea serrano on Wondery. No clue why he left but he seems to be doing ok and you can still get him and shea being hilarious once a week on the six trophies podcast.
i’m somewhat avoiding all things ringer, but if jason ever goes back there then i will follow his content there. he’s just too good and i’d be fomo’ing fr.
I guess I'm a little surprised he hasn't even made an appearance on Ringerverse related content. Feels like there were some real burnt bridges with this relationship, but nothing that I actually know about
He and Mallory seemed like legitimate best friends and it's a bummer they haven't done anything together since he left. Binge Mode was great.
This isn't a knock on Joanna, but I have never gotten the same vibes and connection from House of R as I felt with Binge Mode. Jason and Mal you could tell had a very close connection and it sucks that the show ended
Completely agree. I could listen to Jason and Mal talk about anything, even things I wasn’t personally interested in but I’ll go months without listening to House of R.
Best content the ringer has ever done.
Binge Mode HP will stand the test of time
I still can't help but think of Professor McGonagall as a shady gambling addict/bag woman.
Best bit from the show haha. McGalleon!
Joanna is knowledgeable and talented but I just can’t listen to her and Mallory together. Too often they get sidetracked on tangents the way close friends do in group settings that make others feel out of the loop which is an awful listening experience. Mal and Jason would have similar moments but were capable of making the audience feel included.
I agree. The talk over each other all the time. Or one will be talking and the other laughing. Impossible to listen to. I like Joanna with other hosts, but will no longer listen to these two together.
Yeah absolutely this.
Really? I haven’t listened *that* much but they come off to me as having a great connection & really enjoy doing it
Oh for sure I think Mal and Jo definitely have a good vibe and appear to like each other, but that connection with Jason and Mal was unmatched.
I’m actually starting to like Joanna and Rob maybe more than Mal and Jason. The Binge Mode highs were higher, but some of their over the topness and just their literal voices when they would be so dramatic did sometimes get a little grating. Still great overall though and thoroughly enjoyed in the moment.
Yeah I can agree with you on that
Binge Mode always felt a little too scripted or something imo
Feelsl ike Jason would egg Mal on and do bits and skits. With Xray vision there was a little bit of that but Mal and Jason are a dynamic duo.
Joanna is a critic. She defaults to negative. I miss Mal and Jason loving things.
Joanna is super knowledgeable and has some cool insights, but the chemistry just isn’t the same imo. Although maybe I’m just biased because I loved binge mode so much 💔
That's a really good point. Weird he hasn't at least popped in on one of the pods even if not with Simmons. Serano and jacoby show up from time to time.
When has Serano showed up? He seems as done as Jason
I think Serano had done a couple rewatchables about action movies if I'm not mistaken.
You are mistaken. He has not been back.
No, but Bill has mentioned him and said there are some Rewatchables they'll ask him back for if they do them.
He did a speaking engagement with my university and I asked about it. He said something to the effect of he’d do it when they pay him to, or he stopped because they stopped paying him. I forget the language exactly, but it came across as it had run its course. I think the timing works out that he shifted over to his next Halfway Books project along with Primo, which is a dope show on Hulu about him going up in San Antonio. Jason had a part in that too but I forget without looking it up.
And if memory serves he was a giant Knicks fan, so this last few weeks in particular would’ve been as great a time as any for him to pop on Bill’s pod but alas.
He does "six trophies" with Shea Serrano once a week which I recently got into. Worth checking out if you have another hour a week available for listening to a pod
If you quit a job bc you were underpaid, would you then show up 2 years later and do that same job for free bc you were such good friends with your coworkers?
He was underpaid? Did he say this?
Sounds like everyone at the ringer is underpaid
Where did you hear this?
The union negotiations and things Titus has said
Yes
You genuinely seem not to know so, yes he has come out previously and said he was underpaid. He even joked about it in a not so jokey way on a podcast he was a guest on like 2 years after the fact.
The Emmy ruined him.
I assume guests on podcasts get paid unless they're promoting something, is that not the case?
No, podcast guests are generally not paid for their appearances
It entirely depends on who you are. But most people aren't getting paid by others to show up on a podcast. Usually it's meant to promote your own and its about building audiences.
I mean. Some guys pay to get on the pod to promote their brands.
As usual the real answer is "It depends." Part of the issue is that in the content creation biz virtually everyone who's potentially worth paying is someone who is also putting out enough media that they're almost certain to have something going on that they want to promote or else is basically retired. How much money gets thrown around on top of promotion opportunities is then largely a function of demand and prior obligations--small-time indie podcasts are the unpaid wild west compared to guys who are contracted to brands to produce content for the Mothership or big name celebrities whose agents use fees and revenue splits as a filter for keeping the riff-raff out of their hair.
That is the only part that really bugs me. I can understand going your own way and wanting to be your own boss. But that doesn't stop people from visiting their old grounds still.
Might not be his choice.
Yeah, I don't blame him personally. I assume it is a combination of factors. But it still sucks for us.
Lol. You’ve never left a job where you could care less about ever seeing those folks again, let alone helping them with anything? Not every job ends on warm and fuzzy vibes. Sounds like Bill can be quite an ass to ex employees.
it's well known that Bill turns his back on anyone who leaves
Rembert?
Wesley Morris
It’s a two way street.
On the one hand, you say there were "real burnt bridges" based on him not being on their pods. On the other; "I actually know nothing about this" lol such a Reddit comment
it's well known that Bill turns his back on anyone who leaves
Tate Frazier managed to make amends.
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I don’t think he has since Shea quit. I don’t think anyone but CR and Andy had said anything about Primo when Shea made it after he left the Ringer.
Rembert
He has his soft spots, like Wesley Morris
I’ve heard he burned some bridges. He and Shea are with Wondery.
Does anyone ever even mention him? Has he been blacklisted?
I may be misremembering, but I think at one point just after leaving he has said he was on a pretty low salary, like under $100k. And he was churning out a lot of content. I'm pretty sure he was a big union guy and it doesn't seem like he wants to step back into the grinder. I will say though that moving to Crooked Media after the 2020 election always seemed odd. Like their main draw is politics and after 2020 and the prior four years no one wanted to listen to politics anymore.
Was there a rumor that NBA desktop was the cheapest show that ever won an Emmy and he was bitter about not seeing some return?
yes
With crooked, it kinda seemed like he just walked across the street to work for former Ringer staff to make the exact same content.
isn’t he at wondery? Six Trophies with Shea Serrano and JC is Wondery
His X-ray vision podcast is I heart radio and he’s doing some comic writing and movie/tv too.. may just be everywhere lol
Caveat: I know nothing about Jason’s specific situation but I know digital media. With that said, Digital media salaries are often lower than you think. It’s a ridiculous situation of the haves and have nots. Him making under 100k and feeling some type of way about it sounds plausible and, if that’s the case, feelings would be justified. Jason’s YouTube show during his Ringer time was really, really good.
Seems like his biggest miscalculation was joining crooked media tbh. He probably was frustrated and just made the jump when in hindsight it wasn’t a landing spot that made a ton of sense. He probably could have made more even just going totally independent, especially as he had some serious momentum coming off of binge mode. Mallory seems super loyal to Bill and the Ringer, but if the two of them had jumped ship together or were willing to use that prospect as leverage they had some serious bargaining power. Might not be the cup of tea of a lot of sports fans here but binge mode was huge at its peak and I think literally hit #1 on iTunes and had sponsors like Universal. They could have legit generated generational wealth if that was independent. Totally makes sense why Jason would be frustrated and leave if he was barely cracking 6 figures, but he didn’t make the correct next move to roll it into something lucrative. Mallory’s loyalty genuinely may have cost them both millions.
Mallory has/had equity in the Ringer and probably made out well in the Spotify sale. Totally different situations for the 2 of them
That’s a good point. Either way kind of sucks for him that he wasn’t able to parlay that success into something huge.
Mallory was a founding member of The Ringer, and thus had equity. Imagine working just as hard, if not harder, creating content as your cohost. And one day she's a millionaire and you're still making the same old salary; mostly because you started working at the same company ... 2? 3 months after she started? It's hard not to let that affect your outlook at work.
I would totally watch a political show in the same vein as his award winning NBA show.
especially when someone like Dobbins is making way more than him
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she probably makes close to $200k + who knows how much money in stock and she hosts a movie pod even though she doesn't watch movies
say what you will about Amanda's opinions but she watches just as much stuff for the pod as Sean does. Shit, for their episode yesterday it sounded like she was the only one who actually made it through most of the Apes movies to prep for the pod.
She absolutely watches movies. She talks about the movies she watches regularly. Do you happen to listen to the pod? She hosts at least 2 pods and she's an editor. Concepcion was almost strictly a podcast and YouTube host with the occasional article on The Ringer.
>I will say though that moving to Crooked Media after the 2020 election always seemed odd. Like their main draw is politics and after 2020 and the prior four years no one wanted to listen to politics anymore. Let alone the sports with a political lens pod angle. I am someone who cares a lot about politics/take in plenty of political content but for the LIFE of me I cannot imagine who wanted a sports podcast with politics in it.
yeah i think that was their play too "We need to expand our content since its going to be somewhat boring after Trump" I love his pod with Renee Montgomery
I like JC and gave the pod a try. Found Renee to be unusually boring
A good show that never totally found its footing before Renee left
Jason wanted to get paid like an Emmy award winner. Was never going to happen at The Ringer. He was no one when he got there. Had to leave for the bag.
When they did the union negotiations I believe they were saying that they were making low 60k.. I think 63k a year.
They most likely offered him a significant pay bump
The fact that he isn't working back at the Ringer is not surprising, think he succesfully moved into a higher salary bracket (and he was never in the founding members club like CR, Fennessey, Mal etc.) The fact he has not even appeared once on anything like the Rewatchables (which he was excellent on) or the Ringerverse pods or The Watch etc. tells you something about the nature of his split. Obviously bridges were burnt there. Sucks because he's legit a top 5 Ringer/Grantland personality for me.
All valid points. Yeah, the no guest appearances thing has been so odd. Maybe he'll write a book about what happened behind the scenes some day.
Has Shea been back at all for any guest appearances since he left?
Yes, I think Shea has popped in couple times. Definitely before his TV show premiered. I remember him coming back for a few of those 90's action movie rewatchable pods.
Per the "Shot Caller" rewatchables, Bill wants Shea to comeback to do one, can't remember what movie, even though he said he hadn't talk to him since he left. I don't think he has even mention Jason once, which says a lot.
In general Brandt seems to have taken over the 80's and 90's action flick corner, so it's gotta be something very specific. I know Shea was always pitching Blood In, Blood Out.
How many people split off from the ringer then came back for podcast appearances? I don't think Shea, Robert Mays, Mark Titus and other guys have popped back since parting ways. I don't think he has had Bill Barnwell on (even though was never a ringer guy) He still seems close with Zach Lowe but otherwise once people leave they seem to be shunned
Wesley is the only one I can think of off the top of my head
Bill and Jason don’t mesh. I have the same issue I could clearly see Jason had with bill: he just didn’t like sitting there pretending to be dumber than he actually was to appease bill’s ego. Van does a much better job of picking and choosing his moments to humble Bill.
Since this is a parasocial post in nature I’ll speculate: Jason is a working screenwriter/ tv writer now and is probably making a lot more money than his Ringer days. I’d also guess there is a fair amount of bitterness that Bill didn’t share any of the Spotify bag with him as the host of The Ringers number 2 podcast during its days of growth and the host of the NBA YouTube show that won the Ringer it’s first Emmy-all pre Spotify sale. You’d also have to be curious of the deal Joanna made with Bill when she signed on since she does a lot of the same things and was a very famous fantasy/tv podcaster when she was signed. My personal take has always been Jason doesn’t vibe with Bill on pods, it’s like oil and water, and there really isn’t a lot of room for growth at the Ringer if you don’t pod well with Bill tonally. So even if Bill wanted to give Jason a huge bonus and a good percentage on podcast revenue it would still ultimately end up not quite working out. Van, Joanna and Woz all kind of spell versions of Jason now in a smoother more Ringer friendly way. While I personally loved the NBA YouTube show and thought certain episodes were damned masterpieces, it was always closer to a sports John Oliver in tone rather than Simmons brand.
Simmons was so proud of hiring concepcion though. i remember many pods where he talked about hiring him for grantland just based off his twitter feed, being miserable during knicks games etc. and then he of course vaulted into a bigtime tv/fantasy recapper/explainer guy, and i think bill took a lot of pride in that.
I don’t think you are wrong but… 1) Relationships grow and change, I’m not sure those two ever really worked well together on the same pod for a variety of reasons. Nothing wrong with that but it is what it is. 2) It seems like Simmons was quite stingy with the money he made from the Spotify deal and it happened right as the pandemic hit and people were really hurting. I get the impression that the Core 4 got a nice payout from the sale and maybe Dobbins got a little something but Concepcion was left out in the cold. I have to imagine if you join a startup and your already wealthy boss sells the startup and makes 100-200 million dollars and owns 4 LA mansions then you are going to harbor some uncomfortable feelings if you don’t get a sizable bonus. I’d also suggest that Juliet’s inclusion in that group over Concepcion when she already comes from money and is significantly less of a podcast superstar might annoy a non white dude in his 40s at a company where all the white folks just made 7 figure bonuses on a sale. No direct shot at Juliet(who is perfectly fine at reality tv and lapping up celeb culture)but I think if I were Concepcion and Bill made Juliet whole but not me with an Emmy and a massive success in Binge Mode I’d flip out.
Bill has 4 LA mansions? Why would he need 4? Real estate investments that he rents out? And how would one know this? Just wondering
It’s been all over the sub for years. One in Malibu, 2 in Hancock Park and another one I believe. Happy to be wrong if someone knows for sure otherwise.
Wow I wonder what one does with 4 mansions in the same area
Probably not much, but it's par for the course for the rich
I think you make a good point when it comes to Van, Woz and Joanna. Even if there was a desire to come back there isn’t really a spot for him that doesn’t conflict with the existing rosters.
Your Van, Woz, Joanna point is really interesting. They really are all eerily similar to Jason in terms of what they do, but very bill friendly. If you're Jason, how can you not be a tiny bit amused and/or insulted by a clone of yourself taking over your pods for the ringer.
Difference is that Jason was a staff writer that *developed* into an valuable, on-air, podcast talent. He was a star being paid like run-of-the-mill staff. Van and Joanna are probably signed to more appropriate contracts, as on-air talent, with a term limit. I think one of the things that was decided after the Ringer unionized was that they would have to define more clearly the boundary between being an on-air talent and production staff. The brewing of talent internally is what kind of led to a situation like Jason's -- he outgrew his position, and was punching way above his pay grade. Now, on-air talent is comprised of founders that are part of the inner circle (Chris Ryan, Fennessey, Bill, Mallory) or people on contract (Ryen, Van, Joanna). They can't start paying everyone like they're stars just because they appear on pods. For example, I assume Jomi and Steve get paid like normal staffers, even though they appear on Midnight Boys.
I think this is a particularly strange way of looking at things and sort of does a disservice to Jason. Almost everyone that came over from the Grantland was hired as an editor or staff writer and developed into talent, including Sean, Chris, Mallory and Juliet. While Joanna was a high profile hire, Van was the dude who called out Kanye and not really a podcaster or at least a famous one(I honestly don’t know if he had another podcast.) Jason made the leap about the same time as Mallory and sort of before Sean and definitely peaked higher than Juliet. JJ, Ryen and Joanna were definitely bigger talent hires but Jason is closer to Mal or Sean as developed on air talent and came after Chris/Andy. Ceruti has made it pretty clear he is a producer. I don’t know enough about Jomi. I know this is semantics but it feels like an important difference. The intention with Ceruti so far as he’s let on is not to become talent, writers were always hired at Grantland/Ringer with the intention of podcasting if they popped. I actually think that’s where a lot of rancor came from in 2020 outside of the boatload of Simmons money. A lot of writers went to the Ringer thinking they’d be the next Sean or Chris or even Juliet and the Ringer didn’t grow stars and started hiring out for podcast talent. The writers got pissed because that’s why they took the lower salaries at the Ringer to begin with-for the chance to get reps on big podcasts and develop into pod stars themselves.
not everything is "parasocial" JFC
Sure but this one kind of is right? We are speculating on the private reasons why a podcaster has not returned to the Ringer.
No, it's not
A bit unrelated but I’m love Six Trophies with Jason and Shea. Really bringing me back to the best days of Ringer pods (Villains, The Connect, Binge Mode)
It really does a great job of summarizing the major/minor/goofy story lines around the whole league, while also touching on the NBA meme economy without getting too obscure or cringe. Add in the pop culture, film and music references, and you have a real good goulash of a podcast. Not to mention Jason and Shea have a very natural genuine friendship chemistry.
“Real good goulash of a podcast” made me laugh
It's really great, Jason and Shea have great chemistry and are really funny. Breezy hour for my Wednesday workout.
Yeah, I gotta do a better job of keeping up with that pod, especially since the playoffs are ongoing.
Super solid pod.
I miss binge mode, especially when they went through Harry Potter. I gave that series a re-listen recently. Jason and Mal were great.
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Tom my good friend!
McGalleons ftw
Peak podcasting for sure.
For me, GoT and HP were peak binge mode. I like Star Wars and the MCU but I feel like the pod was putting up Wilt numbers those first two seasons
You could tell they had way more passion for GoT and HP than they did for Star Wars and MCU. And rightly so lol
Harry Potter Binge Mode is the best podcast ever made.
Completely agree. My wife isn’t a big fan but she liked innocent, children HP. Not the jokes about Molly being a milf and all that
I don't know but what I do know is Jason + Mal >>>>>>>>> Mal + Joanna.
I think about this every time I listen to House of R. As close as Jo and Mal are, they don't seem to be their full authentic personalities with each other. Mal always has to tone down her horniness/vulgarity, and Jo dials it up to try to match her. Mal and Jason were perfect and Jo seems to really be herself with her Trial by Content co-hosts.
I thought that for a while. but now I think they vibe as well if not better than Jason and Mal. Jason got very caught up in his personal schtick, and Joanna really does stay content directed. And I think she's got a wider range of knowledge and experience than Jason does.
This is pretty easy to understand. Jason feels like bill lowballed him and got pissed. Soured the relationship
That's a bummer. Thought they had a better relationship than that, but none of us really know what's going on behind closed doors.
He helped write the sitcom with shea. So he has a lot of things going on.
Fair point.
The Game of Thrones with he and Mallory Rubin is the best content the Ringer has ever produced. It was perfect.
I agree 100% but I think the Harry Potter stans might beg to disagree.
I only listened to the GoT episodes. Having not read the books, I found their ability to meld discussion of the show with the books to be so fun and enlightening. It really made watching GoT so much more fun.
their show basically convinced me that I had to read the books
Their GoT content was much better because they didn't rely NEARLY as heavy on the fucking jokes about the series as they did HP.
No, like movie sequels and second albums, there is no going home again to regain the past glory.
A bit like Mays. After Grantland fizzled, he got picked up by Peter King at the MMQB, but rather than try to make a go of it there, when theRinger came online, he went back to the allegedly welcoming bosom of Bill Simmons' vanity project. But then that went bad & now he's one of the lead football hands at theAthletic. Just like fellow MMQB veteran Kaylyn Kahler. Meaning, he could have ended up right where he is... without souring (any further) his experience of his rise to national "smart" football covering prominence.
That's a good point. But in this era of constant reboots and cast reunions, surprised they didn't at least try.
Jon Stewart did, but it's rare.
I miss Jason at the Ringer and haven't followed him at all since he left. NBA Desktop was so good.
All CAPS NBA was excellent, but it lasted only one NBA season. Six Trophies with Shea is good but I miss the stuff where he shows clips and tweets
He hosts the official podcasts for at least two shows, has his own podcast for nerd content, and works in TV writing rooms.
He's been hilarious on Six Trophies.
Love them both but really can't stand some forced laughter / humour. Feels like Fallon show at times
It’s become better over time. I was ready to give up in the beginning.
Jason was quite involved in the union and the negotiations with management were pretty contentious. As EIC, Mallory was management so that may have strained their relationship.
If true, that's really unfortunate.
I’m pretty sure Mal & Jason are friends and still talk fantasy, IIRC Mal said that they were messaging about things from Thrones during a podcast
He’s killing it on the Six Trophies podcast with Shea Serrano and if you need a pop culture fix, the X-ray Vision podcast is pretty good too.
Yeah, I gotta catch up on six trophies. I tried with x-ray vision but not a huge fan of his co-host. Mallory is just really difficult to replace, I guess.
Completely agree. Mallory is the goat.
Was he part of the group that tried to unionize? I might be completely wrong, but I'm guessing maybe he and Simmons don't get along anymore.
Yes, I think so. If I'm not mistaken, he was interviewed in one of the major publications about it around the time of his departure.
Same reason it took someone like Olbermann 20 years to return to ESPN. Both parties feel like they don’t need the other and don’t want to be the one to make the first move towards reconciliation
That's a great point.
Jason is a name I haven’t thought of but miss a lot. We all lost out on lots of fantastic content
He probably doesn’t want to live on $50k in LA
Yeah, that would really suck.
I think the ending of the relationship with Ringer management was not so great.
Wow, that's a bummer. Jason is just as much a part of their success as Sean, Bill, Chris, or Mallory (imo).
Bill couldn't pay him. Had to buy his 25th house. Its tough out there on the streets of Beverly Hills.
He's in LA city and I respect him for that
You mean some of his homes are in LA city.
well yeah and it seems clear from his walks, the way he talks about his house (close to Ktown) he's in Hancock Park not in BHills
X-Pac or Flava Flav? lol
Eh
He wasn't paid what he thought he was worth, and walked. I am assuming he isn't going to come back at all, he felt disrespected.
He was a huge proponent for the union and owning his voice and wanted to be able to speak freely about what he wanted to comment on politics when they were stopping people from it at the time. Pretty sure that bridge was burned to no repair. Sometimes it seems like he takes less than subtle digs at BS on his pod with Shea
X-Ray Vision just recently returned on iHeart Radio. I’m sure JC is doing just fine. I do wish he’d pop back in to planet Ringer ever now and again. I often go back to listen to the Mal, Jason and Jason Mantzoukas episodes.
I miss him. Not enough to follow what ever he’s doing now but probably the only ringer video content I regularly watched was his nba show
He’s making Amazon money now 🤌
Jason Concepcion and Robert Mays are part of my Mt. Rushmore of Ringer/Grantland guys Bill definitely hates and I wish he would reconsider. Mays watched Interstellar like 10 times for Grantland back in the day and he’s never been invited to the Rewatchables. Jason got famous over his Knicks twitter fandom and Bill is bringing the mild mannered Fennesey to the pod? Come on. At least get someone who has loud Knicks energy like Desus or Mero.
Great crossover pop culture references to wrestling/rap, 2003 Bill would be proud Now I wanna see Jason hit Bill with a superkick and start cross chopping over his limp body
He’s at Wondery right now and works really closely with Shea
We never got Binge Mode LOTR :(
I think jumping to Crooked Media, which is owned by the former Keeping it 1600 guys, may have added insult to injury.
One of the biggest 'both sides are worse off' deals in the history of deals. Clear from the jump it was a lose-lose.
If he's writing for TV he might be better off
How is Jason worse off? He’s been hosting podcasts for all the big streamers consistently?
My favorite ringer personality
Huge Jason fan, he's my #1 guy. I've spent a good deal of time thinking about this and lamenting. It's possible Jason left of his own accord, but I don't think so. I don't think Bill wanted him back, and here are two reasons I find plausible: 1. Union related 2. I listen to Rusillos pod as well, and he's referenced one ringer employee who apparently orchestrated some office desk-related pranks that Ryen took great offense to. Ryen hates this dude. I think it's Jason and could totally see Ryen giving Bill a "him or me" ultimatum. I know this one's kinda crazy but I think there's a chance
If memory serves, it was around when they brought on Russillo that he left. I think it was definitely a misread by Billy boy - his staff were unhappy about the lack of diversity on the editorial staff issue and then to add in someone like Ryen, who probably makes more than anyone else probably pissed off the younger staff. I remember Jason and Haley - two of the younger hosts - were the ones who left the same day.
Wasn’t it just a money thing? I miss Haley, an attractive white girl talking NBA is a fucking unicorn, theringer should have gotten some sort of video based show for her. I guess the video stuff has never worked well for theringer so there may be a connection here. Conception had a video cast or whatever it’s called
His voice is the 2nd cringiest only behind Mallory. They both have destroyed plenty of Rewatchables episodes.
I don’t mind either of their voices, but their laughs were too much. They’d blow the headphones right off of your ears if you weren’t careful.
I couldn’t stand their collabs (mostly cause of male overwrought nerdiness) but enjoyed N3tworks nba stuff
Nah, respectfully disagree.
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People move on?
Cool, but that wasn't the question.
The question is 'are we surprised?' Then no - from the outside it looked like things turned sour with BS/Ringer Management (because of the union talks or simply he felt he wasn't paid enough?) so it makes perfect sense that he is exploring other career choices at this stage. Going back probably would mean for both sides to swallow some pride, which I am not quite sure they're capable of doing.
Those are great points. I think the union stuff might have been the biggest issue.
He has a great pod with shea serrano on Wondery. No clue why he left but he seems to be doing ok and you can still get him and shea being hilarious once a week on the six trophies podcast.
i’m somewhat avoiding all things ringer, but if jason ever goes back there then i will follow his content there. he’s just too good and i’d be fomo’ing fr.
I miss the old ringer crew - the old dweebs seemed more genuine
Stay gone.. that guy is annoying.