Showing posts with label Press Releases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Press Releases. Show all posts

Friday, January 21, 2011

2011 March Madness Announcers Revealed

One day after CBS accidentally leaked that Steve Kerr would be joining Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg for the Final Four, CBS and Turner have released their entire announcing roster for this year's March Madness. To try to mitigate the confusion as much as possible, I have the rounds listed below and the announcer pairings working said rounds.

TV stations that will be used

CBS
TNT
TBS
TruTV

Tuesday Night First Four (note: First Four games will be broadcast on TruTV)

Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr

Wednesday Night First Four

Gus Johnson and Len Elmore

2nd Round and 3rd Round (note: these are in no particular order)

Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg
Marv Albert and Steve Kerr
Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel
Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, and Reggie Miller
Spero Dedes and Bob Wenzel
Tim Brando and Mike Gminski

Sweet 16 and Elite 8 announcers

Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg
Marv Albert and Steve Kerr
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore
Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery

(source: Fang's Bites; hat tip to ssreporters in the comments section

Final Four and National Championship game

Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr

No one specific was mentioned in Richard Deitsch's article that broke the news, for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, however, if I were to guess I think it would shape up a bit like this.

Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg: Easy, this is the top pairing.

Gus Johnson and Len Elmore: The team calling the national championship game is doing one night of First Four games. Johnson and Elmore are doing the other. CBS and Turner know who to give exposure to (or, so we think). I would not say this is a sure thing as Johnson always seemed to be the #4 in the old days of March Madness, but I think this a pretty safe bet nonetheless.

Marv Albert and Steve Kerr: Turner is going to want their broadcasters represented in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, especially if Kerr is only joining Nantz and Kellogg in the Final Four.

Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery: Tournament veterans. Gotta have Verne and Raft, no?

If there is a 5th team lurking here, it is the Harlan/Bonner/Miller combination. Kevin Harlan does NBA games for TNT as does Miller. I would not be surprised if Harlan gets a promotion at the expense of either Johnson/Elmore, Albert/Kerr (with Kerr joining Nantz/Kellogg over a week early), or Lundquist/Raftery.


The following will act as sideline reporters during March Madness (note: sideline reporters have not been assigned broadcast teams yet, except for Tracy Wolfson and Nantz/Kellogg/Kerr on the Final Four)

Tracy Wolfson
Craig Sager
David Aldridge
Sam Ryan
Marty Snider
Lesley Visser

Now for the studio coverage. There will be two studios, one in CBS's headquarters in New York like normal, and another in Atlanta at Turner's headquarters.

Now for the list of personnel who will see at some point or another during March Madness.

Greg Gumbel
Ernie Johnson
Matt Winer
Charles Barkley
Kenny Smith
Greg Anthony
Seth Davis
Steve Smith

If you want to read a little more about the studio assignments, check out Deitsch's article.

I am not sure I am entirely thrilled about this (no Jay Bilas; too many talking heads in the studio), but everytime I think about that, my thoughts turn to the prospect of ESPN taking over an over 100 team tournament and how this is only 68 teams with every game being shown on national TV. I then realize that things could be 10 times worse. Every March Madness game is being shown on national TV. There may be some kinks in the broadcast, but at least I will no longer have to hope that Greg Gumbel changes the remote for me or that March Madness On Demand is not running 3 minutes behind.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

ESPN Release 2010 College Football Announcing Line Up

From Fang's Bites via an ESPN press release:
Game Telecast Play-by-play Analyst Reporter
Saturday Night Football (on ABC) Brent Musburger Kirk Herbstreit  *
ESPN College Football Primetime (Saturday)  Brad Nessler Todd Blackledge  *
ESPN2 College Football Primetime (Saturday) Mark Jones Bob Davie  **
ESPNU SEC Saturday Prime Time Clay Matvick Herm Edwards  
ESPN College Football Primetime (Thursday) Rece Davis Craig James and Jesse Palmer Jenn Brown
ABC Saturday Afternoon Sean McDonough Matt Millen  *
ABC Saturday Afternoon Mike Patrick Craig James  *
ABC or ESPN Saturday Afternoon Ron Franklin Ed Cunningham  **
ESPN College Football (Saturday afternoons) Dave Pasch Bob Griese and Chris Spielman  **
ESPN2 College Football (Saturday afternoon) Bob Wischusen Brian Griese  **
ESPNU Saturday noon Rob Stone David Pollack  
ESPNU Saturday afternoon Pam Ward Danny Kanell  
ESPNU late Saturday (WAC) Todd Harris David Diaz-Infante  
ESPNU late Saturday (HBCU) Todd Harris Eddie Robinson or Jay Walker  
ESPN and ABC Saturdays (West Coast games) Carter Blackburn Brock Huard and Mike Bellotti  **
ESPN and ESPN2 midweek games Beth Mowins David Norrie and Robert Smith  
ESPN and ESPN2 Friday games Joe Tessitore Rod Gilmore  **
ESPNU Thursday Anish Shroff Jay Walker or Eddie Robinson  
ESPN 3D Joe Tessitore Tim Brown Ray Bentley
ESPN Radio games Bill Rosinski David Norrie Joe Schad
SEC Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) Dave Neal Andre Ware Cara Capuano
BIG EAST Network (ESPN Regional Television syndicated games) Mike Gleason John Congemi Eamon McAnaney
ESPN Regional Television MAC Syndication Michael Reghi Doug Chapman  
* Reporter to be determined weekly between Erin Andrews, Holly Rowe and Heather Cox
** Reporter to be determined weekly between Jeannine Edwards and Quint Kessenich
ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Regional Television Studio Assignments
Show Host Analyst
College GameDay Built by The Home Depot (Saturdays: 9-10 a.m. on ESPNU; 10 a.m.-noon on ESPN) Chris FowlerErin Andrews (9 a.m.) Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard
Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Countdown (Saturdays on ABC) John Saunders Jesse Palmer
ABC Saturday reports Robert Flores  
Pre-game, halftime and post-game, College Football Final (Saturdays on ESPN) Rece Davis Lou Holtz and Mark May
Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPN2) Wendi Nix Todd McShay and Robert Smith
Pre-game, halftime and post-game (Saturdays on ESPNU) Lowell Galindo (prime time) and Dari Nowkah (afternoon) Tom Luginbill and Matt Stinchcomb
College GameDay on ESPN Radio (Saturdays at noon) Ryen Russillo Trevor Matich and Brad Edwards
ESPNEWS Overdrive Ryan Burr Jon Ritchie
Inside the Polls (ESPNU) Lowell Galindo Tom Luginbill and Mike Bellotti
SEC syndication studio Dari Nowkhah Matt Stinchcomb
SEC Weekly (ESPNU) Cara Capuano Matt Stinchcomb and David Pollack
Big 12 This Week (ESPNU) Melissa Knowles Jon Berger
Is it just me or is it amusing that Bob Griese and Brian Griese will be calling games at the same time on a weekly basis? Also, Pam Ward has been (seemingly) demoted to the ESPNU afternoon game while Bob Wischusen is promoted in her place. Also, who on earth does Ron Franklin think he is? Brett Favre? I could have swore he retired last year....

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Broadcast Information For The World Cup Finals This Sunday On ABC

From an ESPN press release.
ABC will provide live coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final Sunday, July 11, from Soccer City in Johannesburg. The one-hour pre-match show starts at 1:30 p.m. ET. Martin Tyler and Efan Ekoku will call the title match.

John Harkes and Ian Darke will work the 3rd place match between Uruguay and Germany on Saturday, July 10, in Port Elizabeth. The match will be broadcast on ABC with coverage starting at 2 p.m. In addition to ESPN’s roster of studio hosts and analysts, Harkes will join Bob Ley at Soccer City for pre-match, halftime and post-match analysis.
I hope you all like John Harkes!

On a more serious note, hopefully this 3rd place game will not be the last time that we hear Ian Darke on ESPN and American television. Whether they bring him in to call MLS, the upcoming Euros, or a future World Cup, he needs to be heard in the States again. He has been the best announcer of this World Cup by miles (and to think this is in the same category as Martin Tyler), and has been a complete joy to listen to.

I'll have a more elaborate preview post up sometime before the match starts.