In 1996, the Oscars viewership totaled a whopping 45 million — but now, in 2026, the number has dwindled to a measly 17 million.
“At 17 million, it’s attracting about 5% of the American public,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock comments, adding that Clay Travis made an interesting point regarding the celebrity awards show.
“Big media take: the only reason broadcast TV networks still exist is the NFL. Go look at ratings, if the NFL isn’t on NBC, CBS and Fox, what are people watching on these channels? Bigger media take: sports is the only reason cable TV still exists. Am I wrong? Debate, discuss,” Travis wrote in a post on X.
The Oscars, like sports, Whitlock comments, “used to be a powerhouse.”
“It was like a big party, a big holiday event, Oscars night. Families would dress up, families would throw parties, people would invite everybody over, people would have wine and beer and drink and food,” he recalls.
“It was like a celebration. It was a mini-Super Bowl. And now it’s nothing. And it’s nothing because it moved away from reality. It’s nothing because the movies are nothing. They are straight trash,” he says, blaming DEI for the quality of films.
“The woke movement has done this. Woke movies, woke television, woke everything, the move away from reality. Movies and TV no longer reflect our reality. And that has made sports the last thing still connected to reality, the last thing that still reflects an American reality. It makes sports more valuable,” he explains.
And sports still reflect an American reality because many of them are attached to patriotism.
“There is an underserved market of people out here that want to see things on television, things in popular culture, that reflect a love for America and are connected to something that’s believable,” Whitlock says.
“This is how I know they have killed capitalism, because there’s this great mass of America that just wants popular culture to serve them up some reality, some masculinity, some moral values loosely connected to Christianity,” he continues.
“They want to celebrate America,” he adds.
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy says he’s looking ahead in faith after learning he will not return to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” this fall following 17 years on the broadcast.
“I have been informed by NBC that I won’t be back with FNIA this fall and it has given me time to reflect and also to look ahead. It’s disappointing news but I want to thank my NBC family for making the last 17 years so special. I’ll have lasting memories of my time there, especially with Rodney Harrison who has become a tremendous friend,” Dungy posted on X.
“God has always directed me in these moments and while I’m not sure what the next step will be for me — whether it will be in football, in broadcasting, or getting more involved in church and community outreach — I know God has plans for my life and I can’t wait to see them unfold,” he continued.
“And I am reminded of one of my favorite verses in the Bible — Romans 8:28. ‘God works all things for His good for those who love the Lord,’” he added.
“Seventeen years on NBC always shocked me. NBC is probably the most secular television network we have in America. I think they used Tony Dungy and the NFL used Tony Dungy to try to signal that ‘hey, we’re not anti-Christian,’” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.”
“And now NBC and the NFL, I think, are kind of done with the biblical worldview — the Christian worldview — and so they have removed Tony Dungy,” he adds.
“I was surprised, just because, as you pointed out, he’s been there 17 years,” Anthony Walker tells Whitlock.
“I think it was a few years ago he started becoming even more vocal about his stance against abortion, about, you know, saving unborn children and went to a few rallies, public speeches, and faced a lot of criticism because of that,” Walker explains.
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Are youth sports quietly replacing church in American life?
Sports analyst Danny Kanell recently shined a light on this question when he suggested that youth games shouldn’t start before 9 a.m. on Sundays — and maybe shouldn’t be occurring on Sundays at all.
“He’s got two young daughters that are potential volleyball stars. And Sunday morning, Danny put out a video over X that complained about, ‘Man, what am I doing at 7:30 in the morning?’” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock comments, before playing the clip.
“We need to save youth sports. We need to save parents from youth sports, because I’m here at a volleyball tournament and it is 7:40 on a Sunday. We need to enforce some laws that you cannot start youth sports games on the weekends before 9:00 a.m.,” Kanell began.
“And how about no sports on Sundays? How about that one? Let’s put those laws into effect,” he added.
“I’m in full agreement with Danny,” Anthony Walker tells Whitlock. “I have seen, over my lifetime, sports just invade family life. And when I look at the scriptures … the scriptures tell us in Acts chapter 2 that they all who believe were together. They had all things in common. They fellowshipped together. They broke bread from house to house together. They were real community together.”
“And that was what was primary, you know, their families and the church community was primary, and everything else is secondary. We now live in a situation where we’re trying to squeeze in the family time. We’re trying to squeeze in the fellowship and worship time,” he continues.
“I actually think that's the attitude we should all take,” T.J. Moe agrees.
“In fact, America used to take this as a whole. You know, going back ... from the beginning of our founding till about 1960, we had something called blue laws, where you couldn’t go in and go shopping for anything that was nonessential because we believed in the Lord’s day,” Moe explains.
And when it comes to sports, it’s not just parents and their kids whose Sundays are being hijacked.
“Sunday is now NFL day. It is not the Lord’s day in America, and I think that is destructive and awful,” Moe adds.
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Former NBA player Jalen Rose has made some bold claims — that salary caps in professional sports and restrictions preventing athletes from entering leagues straight out of high school are a “residue of slavery.”
“The only sports that have salary caps are black led, first off. So that’s basketball and football. Those [are] the only sports with salary caps. Baseball, golf, NASCAR, tennis, you can keep naming. ... That’s the first thing,” Rose explained on “Joe and Jada Unfiltered.”
“The second thing is they have no after-high-school restriction. And so that’s a residue of slavery, is because we’re going to get money off of you for multiple years for free,” he adds.
“A residue of slavery is probably Jalen Rose’s IQ at this point. That’s probably the residue of slavery that he’s referring to here,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock tells Steve Kim and Jay Skapinac on “Fearless.”
“It just drives me crazy that sports conversation is this stupid, this racialized. The National Hockey League has the harshest salary cap in all of sports. The top players probably making $7, $8, $9 million dollars. NFL players making $40, $50, $60 million dollars,” he adds.
“So here’s the other thing. When he brings up tennis and golf, guys, if I’m not mistaken, aren’t those guys’ winnings really their salary cap? Like if you win 10 tournaments, you’re probably going to get more than a guy that finishes in 18th place. That’s just the last time I checked,” Kim chimes in.
“It’s probably my whiteness, guys, coming through here, but I just really resent the implications that slavery is somehow tied into guys making multimillion-dollar generational wealth to play a game for a couple months a year for like 10 years of their life,” Skapinac adds.
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
On the “Impaulsive” podcast, Logan Paul declared he would wager $1 million against any NFL player willing to face him in a boxing match — claiming that no player is capable of beating him.
"Not a single football player could beat me in a boxing match," Paul said proudly, adding that he would “throttle Myles Garrett.”
“A million dollars. You come to the gym, we put on boxing gloves, we see how it goes,” he added.
“This started with, ‘I can beat any NFL player in a fight.’ Which is an outright lie. There are a bunch of guys in the National Football League right now that will whoop Logan Paul’s ass,” “Fearless” guest Shaun King tells BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock.
“Then he fixed it, though, when he came back around to it, and he specified it had to be boxing and inside the ring with gloves on. … That is a conditioning thing, and it’s a technique thing, and no matter how good you might be fighting on the street, if you aren’t learned in that specific line of combat, then you probably have no chance,” he continues.
“Probably in a boxing match, something that he’s been training at forever with gloves, three-minute rounds, he has a sizeable advantage. But don’t get it twisted, Logan. In a regular street fight, there are a whole bunch of NFL guys that’ll get on your top,” he adds.
To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
An NFL rule that rewards teams for developing talent along racial lines is getting put in the spotlight.
The rule, know as the Rooney Rule, is causing confusion among the Chicago Bears' C-suite employees, who are expecting compensation for one of their staff members jumping ship to the Atlanta Falcons. In the NFL, if a team develops a "diverse" employee who then lands a certain type of role with another team, the first team is awarded draft picks by the league.
'I'll be honest. I think it is a little strange.'
Bears general manager Ryan Poles was asked about the rule, as the team is currently in limbo about receiving draft picks for former assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who is now the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons.
"I'll be honest. I think it is a little strange," Poles told reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine. "I mean, at the end of the day, you should want to develop your staff regardless of the color of their skin."
"I think that's important," Poles continued. "I think we take a lot of pride with the Bears on how we have our setup, and I take a lot of pride in that. So to be compensated for that's a little strange. I mean, I saw the Chiefs get a pick because of me, and then I watched that player go and play."
When Poles left the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022 — where he was the executive director of player personnel — to become the Bears' general manager, the Chiefs received two third-round draft picks simply because he is black, NBC Sports reported.
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The bizarre rule comes directly from the NFL's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, previously called the Workplace Diversity Committee. The rule states that teams must conduct in-person interviews with at least two "minority and/or female" candidates when hiring for a general manager or head coach, as well as at least one "diverse" person when hiring for senior-level positions.
Teams are even rewarded if their developed talent takes a job at another team. This comes in the form of third-round draft picks if an employee becomes a head coach or general manager.
The rule states that in 2020, "team owners approved a proposal rewarding teams who developed minority talent that went on to become GMs or head coaches across the league. If a team lost a minority executive or coach to another team, that team would receive a third-round compensatory pick for two years."
The controversy with Cunningham's move to the Falcons is that the Bears are being told they will not be compensated because his new role is not that of a primary decision-maker.
"The policy for receiving picks pertains to the head coach or the primary football executive," chief NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told Fox 32 in a statement.
"The primary football executive position was filled by Matt Ryan," the NFL spokesman added.
Poles stopped short of supporting the rule in his recent remarks, saying that if the league thinks "that's what's best to help incentivize, then that's what they wanted to do."
He added, "Like I said, that's not the purpose of why we develop our staff."
However, according to OutKick, the Bears are still submitting a review to the league in hopes of getting their draft picks, with Poles saying that if the Rooney Rule is in place, then he considers it to be "very clear" in terms of what should happen.
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The state of Florida is warning the National Football League (NFL) that it may face legal action if it fails to abandon its “race-and-sex-based hiring policies.” “Next week, the NFL’s annual league meeting begins in Phoenix, Arizona, and the NFL draft is only a month away. Ahead of the annual meeting, my office is sending […]
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