David Berson is reportedly seen as “odds-on favorite” to run combined CBS/TNT Sports division; ESPN is reportedly expected to change its secondary NFL booth; and The “Fab Five” will be part of an alternate broadcast as Michigan faces Arizona. Plus news on March Madness, The Washington Post, NBC Sports and Bell Media.
Berson reportedly seen as “odds-on favorite to run” combined CBS/TNT Sports division
CBS Sports president/CEO David Berson is seen “as the odds-on favorite to run” a combined CBS/TNT Sports division if Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery closes, according to John Ourand of Puck. Berson, who joined CBS Sports in 2011 after a previous stint with ESPN, succeeded Sean McManus as the leader of CBS Sports in 2024.
TNT Sports chairman/CEO Luis Silberwasser, who told Ourand that he and Berson “have a really good professional and personal relationship,” remains for the time being in charge of an independent entity that is pursuing extensions with the NHL and MLB and striking new deals like a recent agreement with FIBA. It is unclear what Silberwasser’s status would be in a combined entity.
Warner Bros. Discovery recently announced that its shareholders would be voting on the Paramount deal at a special meeting on Friday, April 23. The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2026, which is pending that shareholder vote and necessary regulatory approvals. If the merger does not close by the end of September, Paramount has pledged to pay WBD shareholders a $0.25/share quarterly “ticking fee” until the deal closes.
In the event that the merger transaction does not receive regulatory approval, Paramount would owe Warner Bros. Discovery a $7 billion termination fee. WBD may also be unable to pivot back to its original plan of separating its streaming/studio assets and linear cable networks into two, publicly traded companies — Warner Bros. and Discovery Global, respectively — an outcome that the company described as “a lost strategic opportunity for WBD stockholders” in a recent proxy filing.
ESPN reportedly expected to change secondary NFL booth
ESPN is expected to change its secondary NFL broadcast booth of play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler and analysts Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick Jr., according to a report by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. The trio has been working together for the last three seasons, primarily calling one half of “Monday Night Football” doubleheaders. Those will be discontinued this season as the league reportedly shops the four games it retained as part of its series of deals with ESPN.
Even without the Monday night doubleheaders, ESPN will still have additional game inventory to cover. ESPN licensed three additional NFL games and moved four of its matchups to NFL Network, continuing to present seven games on the channel it now owns. Marchand reported there being “a high likelihood” that these will all be international games, which would impact all three of Fowler, Orlovsky and Riddick, each of whom also have roles on ESPN college football coverage.
Marchand reported play-by-play voices Dave Pasch and Mike Monaco as “contenders,” with Bob Wischusen mentioned among “other candidates.” Longtime NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner, who has called many of the international games (including last year’s NBC-produced opener on YouTube), is reportedly “in the mix” as well. Warner has called “Monday Night Football” with Kevin Harlan on Westwood One for the last eight seasons.
In addition, former Eagles C Jason Kelce “has emerged as a dark horse candidate on the analyst side,” per Marchand. Kelce has been appearing on “Monday Night Countdown” for the last two seasons with Scott Van Pelt, Marcus Spears and Ryan Clark. Over the last few months, he has been on other ESPN broadcasts, including the NHL Stadium Series and the final three matches of the TGL regular season. Kelce will be at Augusta National reporting during coverage of the Masters Par 3 Contest next Wednesday as well.
TNT Sports to present “Fab Five” alt-cast during Michigan-Arizona game
The Michigan “Fab Five” of Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber will reunite for a special on-site alternate presentation of Saturday’s Michigan-Arizona NCAA men’s basketball national semifinal on truTV, it was announced this week. The group will be joined by TNT Sports host Adam Lefkoe.
The special telecast marks the first time since 2018 that the Men’s Final Four will feature an alternate presentation. In years when the Turner networks carried the Final Four and National Championship Game, TBS would air the main feed. TNT and truTV would carry “TeamCast”/”TeamStream” coverage, which featured announcers with ties to the participating teams. Michigan made the Final Four in the final year of the “TeamCast,” and that presentation featured play-by-play voice Matt Park, analyst Jay Feely and reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Villanova ended up defeating Michigan to win the national championship.
The “Fab Five” competed for the national title in their freshman and sophomore seasons (1992 and 1993), and, despite failing to win a title, remains one of the best-known teams in college basketball history. Michigan removed its Final Four banners and relinquished victories after an investigation discovered that Webber and three subsequent Michigan players had received payments from a former booster, and Webber and Rose had a prolonged falling out that has only recently been patched.
The “Fab Five” presentation will begin following the earlier Men’s Final Four game between Illinois and UConn. Projected tipoff time for the Michigan-Arizona game is at 8:49 PM ET from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. TBS will carry the traditional broadcast of both games featuring play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle, analysts Grant Hill and Bill Raftery and reporter Tracy Wolfson.
Plus: March Madness, The Washington Post, NBC Sports, Bell Media
- Expansion of the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to 76 teams is expected to be finalized following the ongoing competition, according to a report by Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports. Dellenger explained that eight games would be added to the “First Four” in what would be an “opening round” featuring 12 games with 24 teams. Yet he did acknowledge that “plenty of this could change through the course of continuing talks with TV partners Warner Bros. Discovery and CBS.”
- The Washington Post has brought back several staff members who were part of its layoffs in early February, per Natalie Korach of Status, including Washington Capitals reporter Bailey Johnson — who said in a social media post that she is back “to cover the final stretch of the Caps’ season.” The outlet also brought on Danielle Allentuck, formerly of The Baltimore Banner, to cover the Washington Nationals this season.
- Dexter Fowler will make his return to NBC Sports this weekend as a pregame analyst ahead of the “Sunday Night Baseball” matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers on Peacock/NBCSN. Fowler, a former MLB OF, will be on the network’s MLB coverage this season as a pregame and game analyst. He previously served as a game analyst for “MLB Sunday Leadoff” in 2023 and has also appeared on Marquee Sports Network in a studio role.
- The Ottawa Senators and Bell Media have agreed to an extension of their broadcast rights deal, it was announced by team owner Michael Andlauer during the intermission of Thursday night’s game. Bell Media has had the English- and French-language television rights for the team since the 2014-15 season, and games have been telecast on TSN 1200 since the 1997-98 campaign. “The expectation is that TSN and RDS will broadcast 52 games next season,” according to a report by Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
In my quest to lose weight from my current 350lb tally I’m going to reduce my consumption of sugary drinks between the hours of 5-9am
If what remains of the Washington Post can make concessions then I can do so too
Will Jim Nantz be a guest and take a folding chair to the Fab Five like he did in game during the 2nd Round Duke-Michigan game in 2011? That might’ve been the first time Nantz actually had an opinion *whispers*He was also kinda right….as fast as I wanted to throw dirt on the alternate telecast, this might appeal to a wider base at large moreso than a thrown together broadcast of alums (i.e. an Arizona version with Richard Jefferson, Miles Simon & Gilbert Arenas). The combination of Fowler, Riddick & Orlovsky is the cautionary tale of throwing three good names in a booth and never getting the chemistry right. It’s easier to do in a slower paced sport like baseball, but not with 22 moving parts and short windows to adequately describe the action and to toss to your partners. For all the (deserved) shots that Ravvy got on Sunday Nights, a good chunk of the games he’d do the Saturday matchup on ESPN Radio before Sunday Night on TV (which…..only makes his crummy Sunday Night Baseball performances worse). Fowler, Riddick & Orlovsky were a slapped together booth, misidentifying players (Fowler) and stepping on toes. Monaco & Warner? You may have something, but no Jason Kelce, who appears to be a white elephant of an analyst buy. Maybe his hire was a package deal with Travis to appear on that FX show…
I figured the NCAA would be expanding to 76 teams starting with next year’s tournaments and beyond as this is nothing more than a cash grab by the organization via their TV partners to make more inventory and advertising revenue and a lot more coin in the onset with these additional games. Just get rid of this First Four nonsense and make it a clear 76 team field and call it a day and no more expansion discussion!
Single-elimination tournaments require powers of two. Byes are used when there is a different number of teams – currently 60 teams receive a bye while 8 play in “First Four”
If a single-elimination tournament has 76 teams, it needs to first winnow to 64 (two to the power of six). As the article notes, this will likely be 24 teams in “First Four” (perhaps renamed) with the 12 winners joining the 52 “bye” teams for the 64-team tournament proper
76 is probably just a pit stop on the way to 96.
Thanks for the updated information and explanation…just was hoping they would eliminate the First Four process once and for all, but now it’s clear but who knows, it might escalate to 96 teams and then some down the line.
I’ll eat this crow if necessary but this ain’t a cash grab by the NCAA