How do you produce the Kentucky Derby as a television show?

Episode 395 of Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features Lindsay Schanzer, NBC Sports’ senior producer of horse racing and its college football studio coverage. Schanzer will also co-produce the gymnastics coverage of the Paris Olympics. In this podcast, Schanzer discusses navigating appealing to the hard core horse racing fan and the far bigger audience of casual fans who watch one horse race per year; producing a sports event with an audience that is 50 percent female; how much attention gets placed on the morning-line Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness; the biggest challenges before the show and then show day; a feature on the underdog story of Larry Demeritte, trainer of West Saratoga, among the Derby’s biggest long shots; the best cameras for the race; the challenges and opportunities of producing gymnastics for the Paris Olympics; the prospect of Simone Biles competing and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and more.