ESPN is reportedly considering a new Monday Night Football play-by-play voice. In other news, Lindsay Czarniak has a role on this weekend’s Daytona 500, ESPN will simulcast Sky Sports F1 telecasts, and NBC will not have to offer makegoods for this year’s Olympics.
ESPN Weighing McDonough’s MNF Role
ESPN has considered whether to replace
Monday Night Football play-by-play voice
Sean McDonough,
The New York Post reported Friday. According to the report, ESPN executives thought McDonough lacked chemistry with former partner
Jon Gruden, with whom he worked the past two seasons. If the network decides to make a move,
Joe Tessitore,
Steve Levy,
Dave Pasch and
Bob Wischusen are reportedly on the short list of contenders.
Meanwhile, ESPN is still searching for an analyst to fill the vacancy left by Gruden, who became coach of the Oakland Raiders in January. It has been “aggressive” in pursuit of former Broncos and Colts QB Peyton Manning, who has not expressed interest in joining a TV booth since his 2016 retirement. Fox Sports, which has a new NFL package in Thursday Night Football, is also pursuing Manning. [New York Post 2.16]
Czarniak Gets Gibbs Daytona Gig
Former ESPN SportsCenter anchor
Lindsay Czarniak will produce social media content for the
Joe Gibbs racing team leading up to this weekend’s Daytona 500. Czarniak, who recently freelanced for her NBC’s Washington D.C. affiliate ahead of the Super Bowl, will interview drivers tonight and Saturday. Prior to joining ESPN, Czarniak worked on TNT’s NASCAR broadcasts as a pit reporter and, later, a studio host. [Sports Business Daily
2.16]
ESPN to Simulcast Sky For F1 Coverage
ESPN will simulcast Sky Sports’ Formula 1 coverage this season rather than produce its own broadcasts, it was announced this week. The agreement, arranged by F1, will see ESPN and Sky production staff collaborate on the broadcasts, which will include special segments for the U.S. audience. ESPN acquired U.S. F1 rights last year and will broadcast all 21 races on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC.
It bears noting that 21st Century Fox is currently trying to acquire Sky Broadcasting, which would be sold to Disney as part of the companies’ $52.4 billion deal reached last year. Under such a scenario, ESPN and Sky could be corporate siblings within the next few years. [ESPN PR 2.13]
Olympics Ratings Down, But Meeting NBC’s Guarantees
While NBC’s Olympic ratings are the lowest since 2006, the numbers have so exceeded expectations that the network is selling the ad space it had reserved for potential makegoods. According to
AdAge, NBC had set aside “a few million dollars” worth of inventory for makegoods (free advertising space given to advertisers for failing to meet ratings guarantees), but is now selling that inventory. NBC had already sold $900 million in advertising space for the Games. [AdAge
2.13]
