If best known as an athlete and pitchman, George Foreman — who died Friday — also spent more than a decade as a television analyst for HBO. Plus: CW will have its NASCAR broadcast team call this weekend’s race remotely; ABC is changing affiliates in the Miami market.
George Foreman, boxer, pitchman and HBO analyst, dies at 76
George Foreman, the heavyweight champion-turned-pitchman, entertainer and television analyst, died Friday at age 76. Widely considered one of the greatest fighters of his or any era, Foreman initially came to prominence during the height of the sport’s popularity in the 1970s, garnering worldwide fame in iconic bouts against Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. He achieved broader pop cultural notoriety in the 1990s by way of the grill that bore his name — including starring in an eponymous ABC sitcom — even as he continued to make headlines in the ring as the oldest heavyweight champion ever.
His time with HBO is likely to be overlooked in the coming obituaries, but he spent 12 years as a boxing analyst for the network alongside Jim Lampley and Larry Merchant. “Opinionated, frank, unique,” is how Lampley described Foreman in a farewell video ahead of his final broadcast for the network in 2004.
With Foreman’s death, the glory days of boxing — in the ring, on television and in popular culture — fade even further into memory.
CW announce team to work Miami Xfinity race remotely
The CW NASCAR broadcast team of Adam Alexander, Jamie McMurray and Parker Kligerman will call Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Homestead-Miami remotely from NASCAR’s Concord, N.C. production facility, Sports Business Journal reported Friday. According to the report, CW plans to have its announcers work remotely “a handful” of times this season. CW, owned by Nexstar, has exclusive rights to the entire Xfinity Series.
ABC changing stations in Miami
The Miami television station WPLG (“Local 10”) is losing its ABC affiliation as of August 3 after the sides were unable to come to a deal, it was announced Thursday. ABC programming will shift to a digital subchannel of the market’s FOX affiliate WSVN, owned by Sunbeam Television.
WPLG, owned since 2014 by a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, had been an ABC affiliate for nearly 70 years.
