ESPN is launching a daily gambling-related studio show this month; CNN’s Jeff Zucker will reportedly assume oversight of Turner Sports; NBC has purchased the high-school football All-American Bowl.
ESPN to launch gambling show this month
ESPN announced Friday that it will launch a daily gambling-related show later this month. Titled “Daily Wager,” the one-hour show will air weekdays on ESPNEWS at 6 PM ET. ESPN SportsCenter anchor and gambling analyst Doug Kezirian will host, joined by a number of contributors, including “Stanford” Steve Coughlin from SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. [ESPN PR 3.1]
WSJ: CNN’s Zucker to oversee Turner Sports
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that CNN president Jeff Zucker is expected to assume oversight of Turner Sports as part of a corporate restructuring of WarnerMedia (Time Warner) under new owner AT&T. Zucker has been president of CNN since 2013 and previously served as CEO of NBC Universal from 2007-10 and president of NBC Entertainment from 2000-07. His time at NBC was marked by a number of embarrassing mishaps — including an infamously botched Tonight Show succession plan — and the squandering of the network’s primetime dominance.
At CNN, Zucker’s tenure has been primarily known for the disproportionate media coverage his network gave one candidate during the 2016 presidential campaign, and for the contentious on-air debates that have marked much of its programming. In 2017, Zucker told The New York Times that his inspiration for the latter was ESPN’s daytime debate shows. [The Wall Street Journal via Awful Announcing 3.1]
NBC Sports buys high school All-American Bowl
NBC Sports has purchased the high school football All-American Bowl, it was announced this week. NBC has aired the game since 2004. As owner of the game, NBC will handle all day-to-day operations and oversee the game’s combine. It is not unusual for networks to own sporting events; ESPN, which owns several college football bowl games, once ran its own high-school football all-star game. [NBC Sports PR 2.25]
