Less than two years after his hiring, Josh Elliott has left NBC Sports. In other news, CBS has officially promoted Bill Raftery, and a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has passed away.
Elliott Leaving NBC
- NBC Sports has parted ways with Josh Elliott, the network confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter last week, ending a 19-month run in which he was barely visible on the network’s sports properties. Elliott joined NBC last year after a decade with Disney, first with ESPN (2004-11) and later ABC News (2011-14). Despite recent speculation that he could join Fox Sports, and previous speculation that he would rejoin ABC, CNN Money reported last week that he has “no gig lined up at all.” (Hollywood Reporter, CNN)
Raftery Lead Hoops Analyst For CBS
- CBS Sports has quietly made official Bill Raftery‘s promotion to lead college basketball analyst, referencing him as such in multiple press releases this month. The role was previously held by Greg Anthony, who was suspended from CBS after an arrest in January and has not appeared on the network since. Raftery filled in for Anthony on the NCAA Tournament and Final Four last season, but it was not clear at the time whether that was a permanent decision. Raftery is now the third lead analyst for CBS since the retirement of Billy Packer, following Anthony and Clark Kellogg. (CBS Sports)
St. Louis Post Dispatch Writer Passes Away
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Joe Strauss passed away Sunday after battle with leukemia. He was 54. Strauss, who spent the last 13 years of his three-decade career with the Post-Dispatch, filed his final column last month. The paper has now lost two sports columnists in the span of just over a year, following the death of Bryan Burwell last December. (stltoday.com)
